Now that the dust has settled from the election, it’s time for Washington to look past all the politics and advance bipartisan reforms that help expand Americans’ access to quality care.
Today, too many patients struggle to get seen and treated. That’s because there is a growing shortage of doctors and rapidly rising wait times for patients to get an appointment. These challenges are worsened by inflation, rising labor costs, growing administrative burdens, and years of cumulative Medicare cuts.
Unfortunately, our nationwide physician shortage will get worse unless Congress passes solutions during the lame-duck session to stabilize the system and help ensure patients can receive care from their physicians.
The way our Medicare system is set up drives many doctors out of the field, making it harder for older Americans to access medical care. Facing inadequate reimbursement rates, physicians are finding it increasingly difficult to keep the lights on and treat the country’s 61 million Medicare beneficiaries, a population that is set to skyrocket. Since 2001, cumulative cuts to Medicare have resulted in a steep 29 percent reduction in payments. Now, CMS is proposing an additional 2.8 percent reduction to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2025. This will exacerbate the serious doctor shortage, threatening patient access to quality care and health outcomes.
The unsustainable and strained Medicare system is already having an adverse effect. An AARP survey of Medicare enrollees revealed that more than a third of beneficiaries have to wait a month or more to get a doctor’s appointment.
Metropolitan cities face average wait times of 38 days, with some large cities averaging up to 70 days for available appointments. Imagine how much worse it can get if more doctors are forced to limit services due to Medicare reimbursement cuts and increased healthcare costs.
Even people with a background in medicine are finding it difficult to navigate the system and get care. Case in point: California pediatrician and recent Medicare enrollee, Dr. Rene Bravo, struggled to find a physician who could take him. The lack of patient access to doctors creates treatment disruptions and may exacerbate a patient’s condition if they are not able to receive care, especially for our most vulnerable patients: our aging seniors. Congress needs to strengthen the Medicare system and ensure doctors — who devote themselves to helping us, our friends and our families live long, healthy lives — are reimbursed fairly.
My priority has always been patients — advocating for patient empowerment, protection and policy alignment that focuses on long-term patient health and well-being. That is why, 30 patient advocacy groups recently signed a letter urging congressional leaders to improve patient access by ensuring a sustainable Medicare reimbursement path for physicians and reversing payment cuts. We’re united in our commitment to support the doctors who have supported us, especially when more than half of lawmakers in the House have signed a letter asking for doctors to receive a Medicare update.
Thankfully, House lawmakers recently took the first step to make payment updates a reality by introducing the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act. If passed, this legislation would reverse the looming 2.8 percent cut to physician payments and would provide a modest inflationary update for next year.
This is a much-needed step. This payment reform fairly compensates doctors and helps ensure patients can access quality care. Lawmakers must put vulnerable patients first by establishing an inflationary update for physicians under Medicare, an update that all other providers, including nursing homes and hospitals, already receive.
Our nation’s doctors have cared for us in our darkest hours. Now, it’s time we stand up for them — and our fellow patients — to ensure that all Americans can access quality healthcare.
