Dec 10, 2021, 16:04 PM
by
Grace Whittington
Today, President Biden signed legislation averting an almost 10% cut to Medicare physician payment that was previously scheduled to take effect on January 1. AAPM&R has advocated for a resolution to the anticipated payment cuts throughout the year, culminating in a grassroots advocacy campaign beginning in November. We are thrilled to share that 208 members sent a total of 635 messages to their Congressional Leaders during this campaign. Your voices were heard by Congress and helped secure the necessary votes to ensure this essential legislation passed.
Physiatrists are playing a critical role in the response to COVID-19 and Long COVID. As we shared with Congress, a 10% cut to physician payment would have a devastating impact on physiatry practice and the ability to care for our nation’s seniors and patients with disabilities, especially while we are still in a public health emergency.
While this legislation is a huge win for physiatry and the entire house of medicine, the changes to physician payment in the bill expire at the end of 2022. As pleased as we are with this outcome for now, we anticipate we will be advocating early and throughout 2022 to urge Congress to identify a permanent solution to the payment cuts physicians have been facing each year in recent history. Your ongoing engagement in these efforts is critical.
We are working to update the resources on our Medicare Physician Fee Schedule website, including updating the new payment rates for 2022 based on updated conversion factor information once it becomes available.