Advocacy & Practice Updates — Advocacy & Practice
Congress Supports ASRS Call to Action on Medicare Cuts
Due to the persistent advocacy efforts of ASRS and our partners in the surgical community, we have garnered widespread Congressional support of our call to take action before significant cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement begin January 2021. Due to budget neutrality, scheduled increases to standalone E/M office visit codes will cause a steep drop in the Medicare conversion factor, resulting in a cut to all other services.
As reported previously, physician members of the House of Representatives, Ami Bera, MD (D-CA) and Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN) circulated a letter for their colleagues to sign urging Congressional leadership to take legislative action by the end of the year to address impending E/M cuts. In a tremendous show of bipartisan support, the final letter sent October 19 was signed by 229 House members across 47 states and the District of Columbia (133 Democrats and 96 Republicans), including a majority of members on both House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees.
ASRS appreciates the support of all retina specialists who contacted their Representatives and urged them to sign. We will keep you updated on continuing legislative efforts to avert the impending cuts.
(Published 10.21.20)