Physicians are expecting to see a 4.42 percent pay cut in January with the proposed 2023 Medicare physician payment schedule, and paired with rising operating costs and inflation, this could further destabilize Medicare, according to a Sept. 8 article from the American Medical Association.
"The payment system is on an unsustainable path that is jeopardizing patient access to physicians. The resulting discrepancy between what it costs to run a physician practice and actual payment, combined with the administrative and financial burden of participating in Medicare, is incentivizing market consolidation," AMA said in a Sept. 6 letter to CMS.
In the letter, AMA urges Congress to do the following:
- Extend the 3 percent temporary increase in the Medicare fee schedule
- Provide relief for an additional 1.5 percent budget cut planned for 2023
- End the statutory annual freeze and provide an inflation-based update
- Waive the 4 percent pay-as-you-go sequester
- Extend the 5 percent incentive payment physicians can earn for participating in an advanced alternative payment model
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