Medicare payment cuts will undercut patient access to care, say Bucshon, colleagues

U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN) helped lead a bipartisan contingent of more than 245 members of Congress calling on leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives to address forthcoming Medicare payment cuts to healthcare providers.  

“As Congress begins the complex process of identifying and considering potential long-term reforms, we must also create stability by addressing the immediate payment cuts facing healthcare professionals,” wrote Rep. Bucshon and his colleagues in an Oct. 14 letter sent to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “These cuts will strain our healthcare system and jeopardize patient access to medically necessary services.”

The lawmakers wrote that high-quality, coordinated care cannot be achieved without examining and addressing the existing barriers in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act and problems with the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS).

For example, the PFS has failed to keep up with inflation and larger increases to some providers must be offset by cuts to other providers, further contributing to the financial pressure on healthcare professionals, wrote Rep. Bucshon and his colleagues, who included U.S. Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA). 

“As a practicing surgeon for nearly 15 years, I believe that no doctor should have to worry about the uncertainty of looming reimbursement cuts while battling COVID-19 on the front lines,” Rep. Bucshon said in a related statement. “Physicians are among the everyday heroes keeping our families healthy, our communities out of harm’s way, and our livelihoods protected during this pandemic. Now is not the time to ask them to take a reimbursement cut.”

The lawmakers wrote that they hope to work with House leaders on broader, long-term reform to bring stability to the Medicare payment system and they asked that the work start as soon as possible.

“As Congress considers a framework to ensure appropriate reimbursements and improve the Medicare payment system broadly, we must act before the end of the year to avert the imminent cuts, including extending the 3.75% payment adjustment, and provide continued stability for physicians and other healthcare professionals,” they wrote. “Otherwise, the profound exhaustion from the pandemic combined with the stress of uncertainty in payments may lead to further retirements, office closures, or reduced staffing, ultimately limiting patient access to care.”