Take Action Today to Prevent Dangerous Medicare Payment Cuts in January

The 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule, released November 1 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), confirms a nearly 4.5% cut to surgeons and anesthesiologists that will jeopardize patient access for needed surgical care.

“At a bare minimum, Congress must pass HR 8800 to prevent these cuts whose effects would be to harm Americans most in need of care,” said Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, ACS Director and CEO. “Without Congressional action, vulnerable seniors’ nationwide access to timely, high quality, and essential surgical care will be negatively impacted. If allowed to go into effect, these reductions will be yet another blow to an already stressed healthcare system. The ACS has always been willing to work with Congress to find permanent solutions to this issue in the long term, but we must act now to preserve critical access for patients.”

The ACS is a founding member of the Surgical Care Coalition (SSC), an organization dedicated to working with Congress to reform physician reimbursement in the US. Leaders of other SSC member organizations echoed Dr. Turner’s call to action.

Combined with a 4% Medicare payment reduction stemming from the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, surgical care faces cuts of 8.5% in Medicare reimbursement on January 1. Meanwhile, significant medical inflation and staffing and supply chain shortages continue to harm surgical care teams across the country. Without congressional intervention, these drastic cuts will put additional strain on physicians who are already struggling to keep up with the rising cost of delivering care.

Congress must take immediate action protecting patient access to surgical care by passing HR 8800, the Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022—and surgeons are critical in these efforts. More than 1,000 surgeons already have used SurgeonsVoice to advocate for congressional action, and you can join the call today.