On Tuesday, December 17, bipartisan Congressional leaders from both the House and Senate announced they had reached a deal on a year-end health care package as part of negotiations on the continuing resolution intended to avoid a government shut down. The original bipartisan deal would have stopped 2.5%  – but disappointingly not all – of the 2.8% Medicare physician payment cut set to take effect on January 1. The bipartisan proposal also would have extended expiring health programs including the pandemic era telehealth flexibilities. It did not provide a positive Medicare payment update.

The following day, the President-Elect and some House Republicans expressed opposition to the deal, derailing the proposal.

Earlier today, House Republicans released a new proposal that failed to stop any part of the Medicare physician payment cuts. This evening, this latest proposal was decisively rejected by the House on a vote of 174-235.

Because the proposal failed on the House floor, negotiations will continue, but the future of the health care package and the continuing resolution is unknown. Congress must pass legislation by Friday to avoid a government shutdown.

CMA is urging Congress to protect patient access to vital health care services by passing a continuing resolution that extends all health care programs that expire on December 31, including the important pandemic telehealth waivers, and prevents the entire Medicare physician payment cut that takes effect on January 1, 2025. Any future agreement from Congress must stop the cuts to Medicare in their entirety. Anything short of that is a failure to serve America’s seniors. As a nation, we cannot jeopardize patient care. CMA is fighting for the stability of physician practices and the ability for physicians to care for all patients.

CMA will continue to keep you informed as the talks continue.