Legislators introduce bill to increase Medicare payments for vascular access procedures
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Key takeaways:
- A bill has been introduced to restore cuts in funding for office-based procedures, including vascular access.
- Legislators said recent changes to physician payment have hurt office-based practices.
Legislators have introduced a bill to restore cuts in Medicare funding for office-based procedures, including for vascular access.
The Providing Relief and Stability for Medicare Patients Act of 2023 (H.R. 3674), was introduced by Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis, R-Fla., and is co-sponsored by Reps. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., Gregory F. Murphy, MD, R-N.C., and Danny K. Davis, D-Ill.
The legislation is aimed at stopping ongoing cuts to office-based specialists, Bilirakis said in a press release.
“This important legislation will ensure patients continue to have access to office-based specialty care providers who incorporate the use of high-tech medical equipment for in-office procedures, such as interventional radiology, vascular surgery, radiation oncology, venous and lymphatic medicine, nephrology and urology,” according to the release.
“These specialists have been disproportionately harmed by recent Medicare Physician Fee Schedule changes implemented by [CMS]” resulting in “double-digit cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates for certain office-based specialty providers,” according to the release.
The reductions could lead to a shifting of procedures from an office-based setting, “which is often more accessible and clinically appropriate for many beneficiaries, to hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgery centers.”
Targeted relief
The legislation would provide additional funds in targeted relief for specialist providers who have been most adversely affected by clinical labor cuts, according to the release. It would also require the Government Accountability Office to review the impact of provider reimbursement cuts under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule on patient access, health system consolidation and quality of care.
“As a practicing surgeon of over 30 years, I understand the disastrous impacts that Medicare cuts have on physicians and beneficiaries’ access to services,” Murphy said in the release. “Due to the budget-neutral nature of the physician fee schedule, specialties with high direct costs will see overall decreases in reimbursement with increases in clinical labor wages. This inevitably results in physicians’ offices closing, increased consolidation, and ultimately, Medicare beneficiaries seeking care in a higher-cost setting.
“Rep. Bilirakis’s bipartisan bill is a targeted solution to ensure beneficiaries have access to the most appropriate site of service,” Murphy said.
Support
The legislation is backed by the United Specialists for Patient Access (USPA) and a coalition of national medical societies representing physicians and health professionals. The coalition sent a letter of support for the new legislation to Bilirakis and co-sponsors of the bill.
“The office setting is … critical for patient access (especially in rural and underserved areas) and can result in patients receiving care in a timelier manner,” the coalition wrote in the letter.
Mark Garcia, MD, chief medical officer for American Vascular Associates and a USPA board member, said in a press release that the bipartisan legislation “will mean creating some stability for office-based providers who have suffered significant reimbursement cuts over the past several years. This bipartisan legislation will help curtail the current health care consolidation trend and protect outpatient access to quality care across the United States.”
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H.R.3674 - To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to increase the non-facility practice expense relative value units for specified services furnished under the Medicare program. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3674/text?s=3&r=1. Published May 25, 2023. Accessed June 6, 2023.
USPA backs the Providing Relief and Stability for Medicare Patients Act of 2023. https://www.uspaccess.org/230603. Published June 3, 2023. Accessed June 7, 2023.
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