Dec. 20, 2024 (ACP) -- As the nation's leaders made a final effort this week to avert another federal budget crisis, the Â鶹ֱ²¥app continued to urge Congress to stand up for patients and the doctors who treat them.
"ACP has been urging Congressional leaders to stop the looming Medicare payment cut, reauthorize expiring telehealth coverage policies and enact meaningful prior authorization reforms this year, all of which have bipartisan support," said David Pugach, ACP vice president for governmental affairs and public policy. "We also strongly support multiyear reauthorizations of expiring workforce programs."
The budget is in the news now because Congress did not pass a full spending bill to cover the full federal fiscal year, which began in October. Instead, Congress passed a short-term spending bill that expires on Dec. 20.
"Congress will likely adopt another short-term appropriations bill, in order to prevent funding for the federal government and federally funded programs from lapsing and forcing a government shutdown," Pugach said. "There are also a number of federal programs, including the National Health Service Corps and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, that need to be included because their authorizations are expiring."
In addition, he said, Dec. 20 is the adjournment date for the 118th Congress -- although that can be extended if they do not pass a funding extension. Any pending legislation that Congress does not pass will need to be reintroduced next year and will have to go through the legislative process again.
In messages to members of Congress, ACP and its members are highlighting the importance of averting a scheduled 2.8 percent physician pay cut from taking effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
"This is the fifth straight year that the Medicare PFS (Physician Fee Schedule) rule includes an across-the-board cut to payment rates for physicians and other clinicians," ACP noted in a message to its members about advocacy.
Reps. Dr. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) introduced bipartisan legislation, the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act, which would eliminate the looming 2.8 percent payment cut and provide a 1.8 percent payment update in 2025, an actual payment increase equal to half the Medicare Economic Index, which would help to stabilize physician practices and protect patients' access to care.
ACP urged members to tell their representatives to support eliminating the 2.8 percent cut and replacing it with at least a 1.8 percent update.
"In addition," ACP told its members, "a bipartisan group of 233 Representatives and 41 Senators wrote to congressional leaders to urge them to expeditiously pass legislation that both stops another damaging round of cuts to Medicare payments and provides greater certainty and stability for clinicians serving Medicare beneficiaries -- demonstrating the bipartisan support there is in Congress for addressing these cuts."
ACP is urging Congress to take action on the College's priorities. "Patients and physicians cannot wait for the incoming Congress to start from scratch," Pugach said. "Access to care and physician practices require adequate resourcing to ensure stability and certainty about patient coverage. These issues, and the need to address them, will not go away if Congress does not act this year."
According to Pugach, negotiations in a lame-duck legislative session and the end of a presidential administration are always challenging and unpredictable. "ACP is pushing these issues until legislation is finalized in order to maximize the opportunity to help physicians and their patients this year," he said.
As the battle over ACP priorities extends into 2025, he said, "it creates a renewed sense of urgency for ACP and our partners to push for new legislation to be introduced and prioritized by Congress next year."
Back to the December 20, 2024 issue of ACP Advocate