Congress Must Act to Avoid Potential 10% Medicare Cuts to Providers
AMGA Letter to Congress Outlines Critical Issues to Medical Groups and Systems
Alexandria, VA – In a letter sent to Congressional leaders today, AMGA outlined the current issues most critical to medical groups and integrated systems of care and suggested actions that could be taken to ensure patients continue to receive high-quality, cost-effective, and patient-centered medical care.
Stopping potential cuts to Medicare is a high priority issue noted in the letter. Recent Congressional spending bills signed into law have triggered certain cuts that put Medicare patients and providers at risk at the worst possible time. Providers are currently facing the potential of up to a 10% cut to Medicare reimbursement at the end of the year, barring Congressional action.
“With the total impact of this continuing pandemic unknown, it is critical that our members remain stable to provide optimal care. Now is not the time for providers to face a significant cut to Medicare reimbursement,” stated AMGA President and CEO Jerry Penso, M.D., M.B.A. “We have asked Congress to take three actions to support providers: Eliminate Medicare Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) cuts; delay Medicare sequestration cuts; and address the decrease in the Medicare conversion factor.”
Other issues highlighted by AMGA include preserving Medicare Advantage (MA); promoting telehealth; and providing a pathway to value. AMGA members are leaders in the move to value-based care and look to Congress to address significant obstacles and challenges that exist in the healthcare market and are slowing the transition.
Discussing the promotion of telehealth, Penso commented, “On telehealth, Congress and CMS acted quickly during the pandemic to enable AMGA members to reach patients in unprecedented ways, and we thank them for their leadership. Our members’ patients now have come to expect telehealth services as a standard offering. We ask Congress to ensure that this service remains available to all patients.”
AMGA’s complete recommendations can be found in the letter to Congress, available here.
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About AMGA
AMGA is a trade association leading the transformation of health care in America. Representing multispecialty medical groups and integrated systems of care, we advocate, educate, innovate, and empower our members to deliver the next level of high performance health. AMGA is the national voice promoting awareness of our members’ recognized excellence in the delivery of coordinated, high-quality, high-value care. More than 175,000 physicians practice in our member organizations, delivering care to one in three Americans.