ACS Continues Fight Against Now-Enacted Work RVU Cuts for Surgeons

Congress returned this week following the holiday recess, and the challenge of funding the government before the January 30 deadline—which, if not met, would result in another shutdown—is front and center. 

In addition to the ongoing budget talks, the ACS expects there to be substantial discussions related to health insurance costs, including the now-expired enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, as well as other healthcare related policy issues. 

A significant remaining area of concern for the College is the 2.5% cut to work relative value units (wRVUs) that went into effect on January 1. Framed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as an “efficiency adjustment,” this reduction in reimbursement will effect the majority of surgeons working in the US and is based on a flawed understanding of modern healthcare—and is provably untrue for surgery, as data in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons showed that 90% of current procedures are taking the same, if not more, time and work to perform.

As it stands, this 2.5% cut in reimbursement devalues surgeon services and threatens patient access to surgical care.

The ACS continues to fight these changes and will update members through various communication channels as more information becomes available.

Your voice remains essential to this effort. Congress needs to hear directly from you on the urgency of stopping implementation of this policy. It takes only a few minutes, and the more voices that are registered, the greater the chance that Congress will listen. If you have already acted, please encourage your colleagues to participate.