Several hundred surgeons took part today in Capitol Hill visits during the ACS Advocacy Summit. They talked to lawmakers and their staff members about stabilizing Medicare physician payment, ending costly insurer fees, supporting the surgical workforce, increasing access to cancer screening, and reauthorizing critical trauma programs.
See their posts in social media.
The Hill visits come nearly a week after ACS Executive Director & CEO Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, testified during a Senate Finance Committee hearing about the challenges surgeons face because of cuts in Medicare physician payments.
During the hearing, “Bolstering Chronic Care through Medicare Physician Payment,” Dr. Turner emphasized some of the challenges surgeons face because of a lack of inflationary updates and continued reductions in fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare payments, as well as the harm these cuts are doing to patients who deserve access to quality surgical care. She said now is the time to act.
“To create stability in the Medicare physician payment system, Congress should immediately address cuts already expected in 2025,” Dr. Turner advised, recommending implementation of positive annual updates reflecting the inflation in practice costs. “Under current law, and assuming no additional cuts result from budget neutrality or other policy decisions, it would take decades for the physician fee schedule conversion factor to return to the same amount it was in the year 2000. The implementation of positive annual updates to the conversion factor reflecting the inflation in practice costs is an essential step necessary to enhance patient access to care and improve quality.”
She added that the ACS and surgeons writ large are committed to working with Congress to ensure the stability of the Medicare FFS system through both short- and long-term policy improvement. She urged a transition to value-based care and improving the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, as well as highlighted how the ACS has set the standard for high-quality evidence-based surgical care through its 13 quality programs.
Dr. Turner’s testimony is the latest in the ACS’s continued efforts to aggressively fight for surgeons and for providing the highest quality care to surgical patients.
You can watch Dr. Turner’s testimony online, and you can read her submitted statement.
The ACS will not stop demanding anything short of a complete overhaul of the Medicare payment system.
You can help amplify the call by taking part in ACS surgeon advocacy efforts. See a listing of ways you can contribute through SurgeonsVoice.
If you have questions about the process, contact the Division of Advocacy and Health Policy at ahp@facs.org.
