Last week, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded through the rest of the fiscal year. Unfortunately, that bill – put forward by Republican leaders – did not stop the 2.8% Medicare physician payment cut.  

When medical practice inflation is factored in, physicians are effectively experiencing a 6.3% payment cut. At a time when physicians are already struggling to keep their doors open, Congressional inaction has locked in a devastating fifth consecutive year of Medicare cuts, threatening access to care for 66 million Medicare patients. 

“The California Medical Association (CMA) is outraged by Congress’ utter failure to prevent yet another catastrophic cut to Medicare physician payments, despite bipartisan support for fixing our broken Medicare program and improving patient access to care,” said CMA President Shannon Udovic-Constant, M.D. “This year’s cut is the fifth consecutive year of cuts to physicians, and it will inflict irreparable damage on physician practices and undermine care for patients.”   

When factoring in inflation, Medicare physician fees have plummeted by a staggering 33% since 2001, while all other Medicare providers have received inflation updates.  

“This reckless disregard for the financial viability of physician practices is pushing rural and small practices to the brink of collapse, making it increasingly impossible for physicians to deliver the high-quality care that seniors desperately need and deserve,” said Dr. Udovic-Constant.  

In California, the disastrous effects of inadequate Medicare rates are already painfully evident. Physicians are being forced into early retirement or are severely limiting the number of Medicare patients they see. As a result, patients are forced to endure long waits—sometimes months—to see a primary care physician, while others must travel hours to see a specialist. Emergency department wait times are escalating.  In some communities, physicians have been forced to completely close their doors to new Medicare patients.  

U.S. Representative Gregy Murphy, M.D., (R-NC) chair of the GOP Doctor’s Caucus has said that he received “assurances” that the Republican leaders would consider stopping the cut in the budget reconciliation bill that is expected to come up for a vote in May.