AMA calls for transparency about ‘jeopardizing’ impact of CMS physician payment cuts

Key takeaways:

• The letter called for CMS to be transparent about the effects of physician payment cuts on providers and patients.
• Payment cuts will also affect policies like those aimed at maternal health, the AMA said.

A letter from AMA's executive vice president called for CMS to be “fully transparent” on the impact that payment cuts in the 2025 Physician Fee Schedule will have on patients and physicians.

CMS released its proposed 2025 Physician Fee Schedule in July, which included a 2.93% cut in physician payments from the previous year and a $0.93 reduction from the current conversion factor.

CMS also estimates that the Medicare Economic Index, the agency’s measurement of practice-cost inflation, will increase by 3.6%, according to an AMA press release.

“[This] proposed rule is silent on the impact of the growing gap between what Medicare pays for care and what it costs to provide that care,” the letter said. “A chorus of authorities on the Medicare program has expressed concern about the ability of patients to continue receiving high-quality care as physician payments erode.”

Physician payments have declined by 29% from 2001 to 2024, the release noted.

The letter, dated Sept. 5, detailed that both the Medicare Trustees and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission have expressed repeated concerns about beneficiaries losing access to high-quality care because of payment reductions.

The AMA called for CMS to be transparent by including the expiration of temporary statutory increases to the conversion factor in the specialty impact table.

“If those cuts affect the conversion factor, they will also affect specialists’ payment rates,” the letter said.

The association also urged CMS and the Biden Administration to work with Congress to enact a permanent, annual inflation-based update to Medicare physician payments.

The proposed payment cuts would impede spending on several key policies, the AMA added, such as the Cancer Moonshot program and initiatives to improve maternal health.

“The 2025 cuts compound across-the-board cuts in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and are not sustainable for physicians and their patients, and risk jeopardizing the Administration’s priorities and access to critical services,” the letter said. “We strongly urge CMS to acknowledge the negative effects of the proposed payment cut on Medicare beneficiaries in the final rule and the Biden-Harris Administration to support any congressional action to replace the cut with a positive update.”