On September 20, ACRO members participated in a Virtual Hill Day in support of H.R. 3674, Providing Relief and Stability for Medicare Patients Act of 2023, which would prevent ongoing RVU cuts to office-based specialists.
ACRO assisted in scheduling virtual meetings with members of Congress from each participating member's state and provided talking points to help make the meetings impactful. Approximately 60 physicians participated and met with members of Congress including Reps. Rick Allen, Gus Bilirakis, Ed Case, John Joyce, Darin LaHood, and John Rutherford as well as Senior Policy Advisors and Legislative Aides and Correspondents for dozens of others.
Here's a look at some of the points covered during these discussions:
PFS payments = Conversion Factor * Relative Value Units (RVUs)
The “conversion factor” is the inflation update that grows the entire “PFS pie” of Medicare spending.
H.R. 2474 (AMA bill) supports “growing the pie” by implementing a permanent inflation update to the PFS.
RVUs determine how money is distributed within that pie.
H.R. 3674 is needed to stop those hit hardest by ongoing RVU cuts: office-based specialists.
The 2022 PFS “clinical labor cuts” contained the most recent round of RVU cuts across specialties and in areas where there are significant health equity concerns. These cuts are more than 20% in some cases and occur through 2025. These cuts also are continuing to cause higher Medicare costs and higher Medicare beneficiary coinsurance.
Ongoing cuts to office-based specialists also are a catalyst for consolidation with physician owned practices experiencing an 11% decrease over the last decade as they have been acquired by hospitals.
A broad group of stakeholders including the American College of Cardiology, American College of Radiology, American Society of Nephrology, American Urological Association, and more agree that the ongoing office-based specialty cuts must be addressed.
You can still make a difference, even if you weren't able to participate in the Virtual Hill Day! Click here to contact your Member of Congress and ask them to support H.R. 3674 so we can secure additional cosponsors.
Print Page
Email to a Friend