Congress chose not to halt the 3.37% Medicare pay cut for 2024 as it averted a government shutdown, The New York Times reported Jan. 18.
Congress could have halted the pay cut, instituted by CMS, as a part of the omnibus appropriations bill but voted on a continuing resolution Jan. 18 to avoid a government shutdown. The move did not reverse the physician pay cuts that went into effect Jan. 1.
Additionally, Congress voted to fund four appropriations bills through March 1 and another eight through March 8.
"We are disappointed that Congress chose not to stop serious Medicare cuts for physician services in the temporary CR," Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, president of the American Medical Association, said in a Jan. 18 news release. "Failure to reverse these cuts will create access issues for patients and small, independent physician practices, especially those in rural and underserved areas."
Dr. Ehrenfield added that "physicians are the only providers who have a payment cut this year and now face a nearly 10 percent reduction in Medicare payments over the past four years."