Bill would tie annual Medicare physician payment updates to inflation to prevent physician shortages and ensure practices stay operational

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES, April 6, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- The Community Oncology Alliance (COA), a national non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for independent community oncology practices and the patients they serve, strongly supports the introduction of the “Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act” (H.R. 2474) which would link the annual Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to inflation, as measured by the Medicare Economic Index (MEI).

This important legislation would help physicians in rural, underserved, or low-income communities continue to stay open and care for patients at a time that the cost of running medical practices has increased significantly due to inflation. Taking legislative action to address the Medicare physician payment system and provide physicians with annual inflation-based updates is something that the Medicare Trustees and Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) have both called for.

• Read the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act bill text.

COA specifically thanks Representatives Raul Ruiz, MD (D-CA-25), Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN-08), Ami Bera, MD (D-CA-06), and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA-01) for taking action to ensure a stable and widely accessible system for Medicare patients. Access to a local, affordable, and accessible community cancer care system is critical to high-quality patient care with positive outcomes, and H.R. 2474 would go a long way towards supporting that.

Failing to ensure adequate Medicare reimbursement that covers the rising costs of running a medical practice will simply lead to closures, consolidation, and ultimately significantly damaging patient access to care, particularly for those in rural communities. COA has long noted that recurring cuts and failure to ensure adequate Medicare payments lead to cancer practice closures and consolidations. Indeed, COA has tracked the changing landscape of independent oncology practices since 2003 and has shown that over the last two decades 1,748 community oncology clinics and/or practices have closed, been acquired by much more expensive hospitals, undergone corporate mergers, or reported that they are struggling financially because of recurring payment cuts and inadequate reimbursement.

COA’s members stand ready to do everything we can to support H.R. 2474, ensure Congress understands the importance of addressing these issues, and ensuring a fix becomes a reality as soon as possible.

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About the Community Oncology Alliance: The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for community oncology practices and, most importantly, the patients they serve. For more than 20 years, COA has been the only organization dedicated solely to community oncology where the majority of Americans with cancer are treated. The mission of COA is to ensure that patients with cancer receive quality, affordable, and accessible cancer care in their own communities. More than 5,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer every day and, deaths from the disease have been steadily declining due to earlier detection, diagnosis, and treatment. Learn more at www.CommunityOncology.org. Follow COA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/oncologyCOA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CommunityOncologyAlliance.

Drew Lovejoy
Community Oncology Alliance
email us here

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