With the recent enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 4633), Medicare physicians received a partial year fix for the Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS). However, this fix will expire at the end of the year. While the 2025 Medicare PFS proposed rule is expected to be announced in July 2024, next year physicians may face the same challenges as in 2024. There is a desperate need for a long-term solution.  

Recently, a bipartisan group of Senators formed a Medicare payment reform working group. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (R-WY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Mark Warner (D-VA) have so far joined the working group. The goal of this group is to propose long-term reforms to the Medicare PFS and update Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) as necessary.  

If successful, the mission of this working group could lead to long-term solutions so that Congress could avoid having to step in annually to fix the cut to Medicare PFS made by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) trying to maintain budget neutrality. The ultimate goal is to ensure financial stability for providers, improve patient outcomes, and promote access to quality care for all patients.  

For more information on the Medicare fix and the implications it has, check out the Zotec Answers podcast.