Statement attributable to:
Omar T. Atiq, MD, MACP
President, American College of Physicians
WASHINGTON March 11, 2024 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) is disappointed that the appropriations package passed by Congress last week fails to fully reverse the Medicare payment cut for physicians that went into effect on Jan. 1. While we appreciate that Congress partly addressed the issue, leaving half the cut in place means that physician practices are still dealing with a major shortfall for this year. This payment cut comes on top of physician payments from Medicare being held flat over the past two decades, while inflation and practice expenses have continued to rise. For years physicians have struggled with this broken Medicare payment system that creates financial instability for medical practices, instability that in turn poses a risk to patients’ access to care. The partial correction included in last week’s financial package also means that we already know physicians will be subject to a larger cut when the 2025 fee schedule is released. Congress must take action to fix this, we need a long-term solution that would ensure that physicians are appropriately compensated for the care they deliver to older adults in the US.
While there is still work that needs to be done on Medicare payments, ACP was glad to see some of the other health care items that were funded. The increase in funding for community health centers is critical to ensuring that the most vulnerable among us are able to access care. We were also happy to see funding for the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program and funding to improve access to treatment for substance use disorders. We strongly encourage Congress to include provisions to address drug shortages, improve price transparency, implement site neutral payments, and regulate pharmacy benefit managers as part of the next appropriations package.
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About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 161,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Contact: Jacquelyn Blaser, (202) 261-4572, jblaser@acponline.org