Medicare Cuts Finalized in Spending Bill

The House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill December 23 to fund the government through September of 2023 that will cause Medicare physician reimbursement to be cut by 2 percent in 2023 and 3.5 percent in 2024.

The omnibus legislation approved by the Senate a day earlier with bipartisan support also extends for two years all telehealth flexibilities provided during the COVID-19 pandemic and includes funding for 200 new graduate medical education residency positions. It also addresses future pandemic preparedness and invests in improving medical supply chains and combating drug shortages.

Adjusted for inflation in practice costs, Medicare physician reimbursement declined 20 percent from 2001 to 2021, or by 1.1 percent per year on average. Medicare hospital pay, meanwhile, experienced average annual increases of 2.4 percent from 2001 to 2021.

UT Rheumatologist: Flawed Medicare physician payment system threatens patient access

Medicare physician payment reform is long overdue