Anesthesia providers face mounting challenges in 2025, from declining Medicare reimbursement rates to a tightening labor market. Medicare’s anesthesia conversion factor continues to drop, in addition to total Medicare payments declining 33 percent over the past 24 years when adjusted for inflation. As reimbursement shrinks, hospitals must absorb costs, often leading to higher costs for patients. Legislative efforts, like the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act (H.R. 879), aim to mitigate these cuts, but strong advocacy is needed to ensure it is included in the next budget package.  

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At the same time, insurers are increasing scrutiny of the QZ modifier, often imposing financial penalties and making reimbursement even more difficult. The ongoing physician shortage adds to the strain, making it harder for practices to offer competitive compensation while maintaining high-quality patient care—especially in rural areas, where access to anesthesia services is becoming increasingly uncertain. Further complicating the landscape, restrictive payor policies—such as the recently overturned time caps on anesthesia services—continue to threaten both patient safety and provider compensation. 

To learn more about these pressing issues and what lies ahead, tune into the latest episode of Zotec Answers, where Mark Isenberg talks with leading anesthesiology experts.