With less than two weeks to avoid a federal government shutdown, bipartisan negotiations have broken down and Congressional leaders have shifted to crafting a stopgap spending bill that would fund the government at current levels through the end of 2025. Congress must take action by March 14 to keep the goverment funded and avoid a government shutdown. 

The California Medical Association (CMA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) are aggressively urging Congress to include in that legislative package HR 879, “The Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act,” to prospectively stop the 2.8% Medicare physician payment cut that became effective on Jan 1, and provide a 2% payment update.  

House Speaker Mike Johnson recently announced that he prefers  a “clean” continuing resolution, which means the Medicare payment fix may not be in the March bill because it would require an increase in federal funding. Members of Congress need to hear from physicians that Medicare payment and access to care is a top priority and that physicians cannot withstand another payment cut. 

Also at stake are a handful of health care programs that expire on March 31, 2025, including the Teaching Health Center primary care graduate medical education program, the National Health Service Corps and the pandemic-era telehealth waivers. While these expiring health programs enjoy broad bipartisan support from hundreds of Members of Congress and are likely to be extended, the partisan breakdown is casting some doubt on the outcome.  

CMA and AMA are strongly urging Congress to continue the telehealth waivers that have improved access to care across California, particularly in our rural communities, and the other expiring programs.  

Take Action Today! 

Please contact your Members of Congress using AMA’s Physicians Grassroots Network and ask them to stop the Medicare payment cuts. While the sample letter provided focuses only on the Medicare cuts, we also ask that you add a personal note asking your representatives to extend the telehealth waivers.