Assessing Impact of Medicare Cuts

Floor Speech

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Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the rising cost of healthcare due to inflation and the need to address Medicare physician payments to ensure quality care for our seniors.

Adjusting for inflation and practice costs, Medicare physician pay has declined over 25 percent since 2001.

Despite this important statistic, Medicare payment updates are scheduled for all healthcare providers except physicians in 2024.

Last November, CMS finalized a rule that would decrease Medicare reimbursement for physician services by 3.37 percent this year. Combined with 3 years of consecutive cuts to Medicare and the rising practice costs, Medicare payments have been cut by nearly 10 percent.

Mr. Speaker, what physician will continue to practice when their salaries are being cut by 10 percent?

It is critical that Congress takes action to address these unsustainable Medicare cuts immediately in order to ensure that patients continue receiving quality care.

The negative effects of these cuts will hit our seniors living in rural areas the hardest; areas that already face significant healthcare challenges.

As a community pharmacist in one of the country's most rural districts and co-chair of the Rural Healthcare Caucus, I urge the House and Senate to act swiftly on passing legislation that would stabilize Medicare payments to physicians and other providers to ensure that our seniors maintain access to quality healthcare.

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