ASCP, the American Medical Association (AMA) and almost 120 national other physician specialty societies and medical associations are voicing support for legislation providing the Medicare physician payment rates with an annual inflationary update. The measure, the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act, would link the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to the Medicare Economic Index (MEI). The fee schedule is used within Medicare to provide reimbursement for the physician work, as well as the technical work, related to physician services.
This bipartisan measure, introduced by Reps. Raul Ruiz, MD (D-CA), Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN), Ami Bera, MD (D-CA) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA), would provide needed financial stability for physician practices.
The legislation comes on the heels of an important report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC), a congressional advisory agency, recommending that Congress link Medicare physician payment rates to the MEI, an index that tracks changes in physician practice costs. Though that report recommended Congress provide only half the MEI update, it represented the first time that MedPAC recommended any regular inflationary update for Medicare physician payments.
ASCP believes that it is critically important that pathologists as well as other physicians and providers be able to receive appropriate payment for their services. As a result, ASCP is asking its members to urge Congress to approve the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act. Whether you are a physician or not, you can use the AMA’s eAdvocacy platform to
contact your legislators and urge them to help stabilize physician payment rates.
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