Letter to Hon. Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader; Hon. Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader - Daines Leads Bipartisan Call for Congress to Address Looming Medicare Cuts

Letter

Dear Leaders McConnell and Schumer:
We write to express our support for addressing upcoming physician payment cuts
in ongoing legislative negotiations. We believe these cuts will further strain our health care
system, which is already stressed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and jeopardize patient access to
medically necessary services over the long-term.
On December 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized the Medicare
Physician Fee Schedule for 2021. The fee schedule includes several positive attributes, including
improvements for maternity care and much-needed payment increases for physicians delivering
primary and other essential outpatient and office-based care to some of our nation's most
vulnerable patients. These changes should take effect on January 1, 2021, as planned.
However, a statutory budget neutrality rule requires that any increases in Medicare payments for
these office visits, also known as evaluation and management (E/M) services, must be offset by
corresponding decreases. As a result, many practitioners including surgeons, specialists,
therapists and others face substantial cuts beginning on January 1, 2021, if Congress does not
take action to provide relief.
Health care professionals across the spectrum are reeling from the effects of the COVID-19
emergency as they continue to serve patients during this global pandemic. The payment
cuts finalized by CMS would pose a threat to providers and their patients under any
circumstances, but during a pandemic the impact is even more profound. Therefore, we hope to
work with you to address this critical issue.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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