Congress Fails to Stop Entire Medicare Physician Payment Cut
As Congress prepares to pass legislation that reverses only half of the 3.37% Medicare physician payment
cut implemented on January 1, 2024, the California Medical Association (CMA) is exasperated that for the
fourth straight year physicians will face a payment cut. The cut totals 1.68% but coupled with medical
inflation, physicians will experience a devastating 6% real cut in 2024.
“While CMA appreciates the support from many lawmakers in Congress, this legislation will continue the
staggering ‘death by a thousand cuts’ that Congress has allowed for the last two decades,” said CMA
president Tanya W. Spirtos, M.D.
Adjusted for inflation, physicians have experienced a 30% decline in payment since 2001, while other
Medicare providers received 60% increases during the same time period.
“Make no mistake: These difficult cuts will further jeopardize physician practices, forcing more physicians
into consolidation with larger, more expensive health care systems or private equity, into limiting the
number of Medicare patients or into earlier retirement,” Dr. Spirtos added. “This will further challenge
seniors seeking to find timely care.”
According to a CMA physician survey, two-thirds of physicians said Medicare payments do not cover their
costs to provide care, with the result that nearly half are planning to retire early, and 70% are limiting the
number of Medicare patients they can treat. In many California communities, no primary care physicians
can accept new Medicare patients. According to a recent Definitive Health care study, 117,000 physicians
nationwide left the workforce in 2021. Because patients cannot access physicians, wait times in California
emergency departments average eight hours.
"Physicians are the foundation of the health care system, and we can no longer weather these cuts without
Congress enacting long-term, meaningful Medicare payment reform," said Dr. Spirtos. "CMA is urging
Congress to immediately address Medicare’s woefully inadequate physician reimbursement rates and the
growing access to care crisis it is causing. CMA stands ready to continue working with Congress to reform
Medicare.”