ACS Advocacy Brief: December 1

Time Is Running Out to Prevent Medicare Payment Cuts

The 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule released in November confirmed a nearly 4.5% cut for surgeons and anesthesiologists that will jeopardize patient access to needed surgical care.

Combined with a 4% Medicare payment reduction stemming from the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act, surgical care faces cuts of 8.5% in Medicare reimbursement on January 1. Meanwhile, significant medical inflation and staffing and supply chain shortages continue to harm surgical care teams across the country. Without congressional intervention, these drastic cuts will put additional strain on physicians who are already struggling to keep up with the rising cost of delivering care. The PAYGO cuts are expected to be waived, but the extent of protections for physician and surgeon payment remains to be seen.

Congress must take immediate action protecting patient access to surgical care by passing the Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022—and surgeons are critical in these efforts.

The ACS is a founding member of the Surgical Care Coalition (SSC), an organization dedicated to working with Congress to reform physician reimbursement in the US. Leaders of other SSC member organizations came together after the final rule to call on members of their organizations to make their voices heard in Congress by supporting passage of the Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022, which would mitigate the payment cuts and protect patient access.

Within the last month alone, more than 1,000 additional surgeons already have used SurgeonsVoice to advocate for congressional action, growing the total to more than 2,200 surgeons. 

In just a few minutes, you can add your voice to the surging call to protect your profession and the patients you serve.