Bipartisan congressional letter calls for end to Medicare payment cuts

Editor's Note

Nearly 200 members of Congress co-signed a letter urging House and Senate leaders to act quickly in order to prevent a 3.37% cut to Medicare reimbursement payments that was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024. The American Medical Association, which supports the effort, reported the news on January 4.

The letter notes that the potential reduction comes after three years of consecutive cuts. Without action, Medicare payments will have been cut by almost 10% in four years, an amount the letter calls “unsustainable.” Already, existing Medicare cuts have led medical groups and health care systems to eliminate services, with hiring freezes, delays in improvements, and the inability to transition to value-based care systems. 

 “Physicians and other healthcare providers who are confronting inflationary pressures and workforce shortages, need Congress to prevent this cut, which will add significant burdens to the health care infrastructure and the communities they serve,” write Congressional co-signers, who were led by Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-Iowa), Ami Bera, MD (D-Calif.), Larry Bucshon, MD (R-Ind.) and Kim Schrier, MD (D-Wash.).