ACRO Backs Bipartisan Letter To Stop Clinical Labor Cuts

The following news release was sent on January 19, 2022 from ACRO urging members of Congress to join the Rush-Bilirakis letter calling for February fix: 

For more information:
Jason McKitrick
Liberty Partners Group
jmckitrick@libertypartnersgroup.com
(703) 203-1455

 WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) is asking members of Congress to sign the bipartisan letter spearheaded by U.S. Representatives Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) that asks leadership to reverse the clinical labor cuts.

The letter asks the leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to address the clinical labor cuts in the February omnibus appropriations legislation. Click here to view the letter.

The letter continues the bipartisan push to stop the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing the updated clinical labor policy in the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). ACRO is asking its members to contact their U.S. Representatives and encourage them to join the letter.

The proposed changes from CMS will force drastic cuts to specialty providers of up to 20%. In September, Rush and Bilirakis led a bipartisan, 75-member letter asking CMS not to finalize these proposed cuts citing the devastating impacts on patients and providers.

Failure to reverse the CMS-directed cuts will result in fewer options for cancer patients, an increase in health inequity, and spur on the consolidation of the U.S. health system.

Dr. Joanne Dragun, MD, FACRO, President of the American College of Radiation Oncology, said, “Congressman Rush and Congressman Bilirakis understand why these cuts will be so painful to radiation therapy centers and cancer patients across the country. ACRO is grateful for their leadership and their relentless work to include this fix in the February appropriations package. Congress must act to reverse this 20% payment cut, or we’ll see the health inequity gap grow, health system consolidation accelerate, and an increase in Medicare program costs.”

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