In July, CMS announced its suggested 3.34 percent conversion factor decrease in its proposed Medicare physician fee schedule for 2024. This proposal, coupled with inflation and low reimbursement rates, could put an additional strain on physicians' compensation and healthcare overall.
No one likes to lose out on cash, but what are the other issues that could arise from cutting physician pay?
Decreased compensation doesn't just affect physicians individually — it could have consequences on the field of medicine as a whole.
Arunab Mehta, MD, assistant professor of clinical in the department of internal medicine at the University of Cincinnati, told Becker's, "With payments coming down over the years, the field of medicine will become a less attractive option for the population in general, and the American population will suffer by not getting the most qualified individuals in the population going into the field of medicine as they do now. Those individuals will likely pursue other fields that tend to be more lucrative."
Patients, especially those on Medicare, could also be affected by the pay cuts.
"For patients, this will worsen access to care, since some physician practices will begin rejecting patients with Medicare if reimbursement keeps falling, and there will not be enough providers to see the rising proportion of the population that is aging," Dr. Mehta said.
Stephen Amann, MD, a gastroenterologist at Digestive Health Specialists in Tupelo, Miss., told Becker's, "My biggest concern over time is that this will begin to erode access for Medicare recipients to find physicians who will continue to accept new patients or will limit the number of patients from Medicare that they will see."