The AAMC joined over 100 health care groups in a July 24 letter to congressional leadership (PDF) requesting that they take action to reform key provisions of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA, P.L. 114-10, PDF). The letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) emphasized the current unsustainability of physician payment under the Medicare program.
The groups asked congressional leaders to focus on four policy areas for action:
- Enact an annual, permanent inflationary payment update in Medicare that is tied to the Medicare Economic Index.
- Reform budget neutrality.
- Overhaul MACRA’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System.
- Modify Alternative Payment Models.
The AAMC remains strongly supportive of efforts to reform the Medicare physician payment system [refer to Washington Highlights, July 12].