The American Society of Anesthesiologists has urged Congress to reject the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommendation of no annual payment update for physician payments in 2023.
MedPAC advises CMS to continue physician fee schedule payments for 2023 as planned, which include a pay freeze despite the "already inadequate rates, rising practice costs and pandemic-related financial pressures facing physician practices," the ASA said in a March 24 news release emailed to Becker's.
If implemented, anesthesiologists would feel the pinch more than many other physicians. Anesthesiologists receive a CMS payment of less than 33 percent of what commercial payers pay, whereas other physician specialties receive payments of 75 to 80 percent of commercial insurer payments, according to the society.
"For decades, there have been real cuts to Medicare physician anesthesiologist payment rates on top of the steady erosion caused by inflation," said ASA President Randall Clark, MD. "Even when Congress acts to reduce the cuts as it did last year, we were still left with a 2.75 percent cut overall for 2022. This occurred as we move into the third year of the pandemic and with no accounting for the highest inflation rate in 40 years. Medicare payment for anesthesia services is objectively inadequate and fundamentally flawed."
The American Medical Association also opposed the recommendation, arguing physicians will be more likely to consider leaving medical practice if the Medicare physician fee schedule spending is not revised.
Adjusting for inflation over the last 20 years, the CMS physician fee schedule decreased physician pay by 20 percent, according to the AMA, and the 2022 inflationary spike is likely to widen that gap.