With a Government Shutdown Averted, US Physicians See Relief From CMS Cuts

With last week’s passage of the most recent US federal budget spending bill, physicians will see some reprieve from the 3.37% planned cut to the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

Now that the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (HR 4366) has been signed into law, thus avoiding a government shutdown, the new rate of cuts to the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be only 1.69% for 2024.

In a statement published on Friday, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) expressed appreciation for this progress but remained devoted to pursuing a complete erasure of these cuts. “While this is not a full fix to the 3.4% cut that clinicians deserve, it does provide much needed certainty after months of wondering if they would still be able to provide access to high-quality care to Medicare patients,” said ACC President B. Hadley Wilson, MD (Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC), in a press release.

Wilson further urged Congress to pass the Labor, Health, and Human Services bill (HR 5894), describing it as “critically important to health care programs and services impacting all Americans.

“Clinicians and clinical practices cannot continue on this path of ongoing uncertainty and cuts year after year. We must find a way to end this cycle and find long-term solutions,” he said. “The collective voice of the medical community broke through political divides to provide partial relief this year, and we'll continue to harness this energy as we redouble our efforts with Congress to seek legislative solutions to achieve comprehensive reform for the future.”

In its own statement, the American College of Physicians expressed similar sentiments. “While we appreciate that Congress partly addressed the issue, leaving half the cut in place means that physician practices are still dealing with a major shortfall for this year,” they write. “The partial correction included in last week’s financial package also means that we already know physicians will be subject to a larger cut when the 2025 fee schedule is released. Congress must take action to fix this, we need a long-term solution that would ensure that physicians are appropriately compensated for the care they deliver to older adults in the US.”