The American Medical Association has sent a comment letter to CMS urging the agency to make changes to the Medicare physician payment schedule, which the AMA argues is bad policy for both patients and providers.
The letter specifically mentions the proposed 3.36 percent reduction in the 2024 conversion factor and the potential for physicians and group practices to be hit with a MIPS penalty in 2024 based on the newly released 2022 performance period feedback, which could reduce Medicare payments by as much as nine percent.
The letter also contends that the 2024 payment schedule would negatively impact Medicare patients by reducing their access to health services due to delays in care, which are most often felt in already underserved communities.
"With higher costs for everything associated with practicing medicine, another year of Medicare payment cuts jeopardizes patient access and imperils the physician practices on which so many seniors rely," AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, said. “These cuts are unsustainable and unconscionable.”