The Academy has joined over 100 organizations in endorsing the Characteristics of a Rational Medicare Physician Payment System, developed by the American Medical Association (AMA) and collaborating Federation organizations.

The principles provide framework for payment reform as an early step to develop consensus across medicine on policy recommendations to reshape the current payment structure. With this framework, we advocate for simplicity, relevance, alignment, and predictability for physician practices and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by calling on Congress to:

• Provide financial stability through a baseline positive annual update reflecting inflation in practice costs, and eliminate, replace or revise budget neutrality requirements to allow for appropriate changes in spending growth. 
• Reward the value of care provided to patients and encourage innovation, so practices and systems can be redesigned and continuously refined to provide high-value care and include historically non-covered services that improve care for all or a specific subset of patients, as well as for higher risk and higher cost populations. 
• Advance health equity and reduce disparities. Payment model innovations should be risk-adjusted and recognize physicians’ contributions to reducing health disparities, addressing social drivers of care and tackling health inequities. Physicians need support as they care for historically marginalized, higher risk, hard to reach or sicker populations. 

Medicare physician payment reform is a top priority for the Academy as AAPM&R continues to advocate for high quality, high value care and sustainable updates to Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.