Tell Congress to Prevent Medicare Physician Payment Cuts
By Jarrod Fowler, MHA, FMA Director of Health Care Policy and Innovation | Updated Aug. 11, 2022

The AMA has released a form letter to help physicians contact their Congress members about taking action to prevent several Medicare payment cuts poised to take effect in 2023. By sending a letter to your congressional representatives, you can increase the odds of averting these cuts, which would include:
  • A 4% sequestration cut to the conversion factor triggered by the American Rescue Plan Act.
  • The expiration of the remaining relief granted to offset the budget neutrality effects of the 2021 MPFS Final Rule. This will result in a further 3% cut to the conversion factor if no action is taken.
  • An additional cut of roughly 1.5% to the conversion factor due to changes that trigger “budget neutrality” included in the 2023 MPFS Proposed Rule.
  • The expiration of a 5% Medicare bonus for Advanced Alternative Payment Model participants.
  • The expiration of a $500 million dollar bonus pool for exceptional performance under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).
  • A zero-percent statutory payment increase to the conversion factor at a time when inflation is soaring.

Combined, this amounts to an 8.5% cut to Medicare physician payments, and an additional de facto cut due to inflation and the loss of potential bonus payments. This is simply unacceptable and would have a devastating effect on practices and access to care in Florida and beyond. Join the effort to prevent these egregious cuts by sending a message to your Congress members today.