SCC Supports Bipartisan House Letters Urging Congress to Stop Impending Cuts to Medicare

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Surgical Care Coalition (SCC) issued the following statement after a bipartisan group of over 196 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Reps. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), and the GOP Doctors Caucus, led by Reps. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Pa.), Andy Harris, MD (R-Md.), and Brad Wenstrup, DPM (R-Ohio), issued two separate letters urging congressional leadership to stop the cuts facing Medicare physician payment scheduled for January 1, 2023. To date, 220 Representatives and nearly 50 Senators have publicly supported the need to protect patients by stopping these cuts.

"Congress must act now to stop the full Medicare cut that will harm millions of seniors across the country," said the Surgical Care Coalition. "With access to critical surgical care laying in jeopardy and only a few weeks left in the year, failure to fully stop the cuts would be an unacceptable outcome for those most in need of such life-altering and lifesaving care."

Beyond putting patients at risk, both letters acknowledged the impending cuts to Medicare would harm the entire healthcare system. Pointing to the ongoing workforce shortages, record-high inflation, supply-chain limitations, lingering effects of COVID-19, and other operational hardship facing medical practices across the country, the bipartisan letter's signatories wrote "Congress must ensure that Medicare providers continue to have the necessary financial support to care for our nation's seniors who rely on Medicare." Further, the GOP Doctors Caucus wrote that "policies that address physician payment stability in the immediate future and beyond will be critical to the continued success of the Medicare program."

Without congressional action, surgeons, anesthesiologists, other physicians, and non-physician clinicians face a nearly 8.5% Medicare cut, which includes the nearly 4.5% cut to the Medicare CF and a 4% Medicare cut stemming from the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act. This is on top of the 2% Medicare sequestration cuts that were reinstated this year.

Last week, over one million physician and non-physician healthcare clinicians joined together in a letter calling on congressional leadership to protect patients by stopping the full cut to Medicare payments set to take effect on January 1, 2023. This letter kicked off a Week of Action calling on congressional leaders to protect lifesaving and life-changing care for the nation's most vulnerable patients. Representatives from healthcare organizations across the country are contacting their members of Congress—through direct phone calls, e-mails, and social media—to emphasize the harmful impact these cuts would have to their Medicare patients.

Read the letter from the bipartisan group of representatives here and the letter from the GOP Doctors Caucus here.

About the Surgical Care Coalition
The Surgical Care Coalition advocates for access to quality surgical care for all Americans. The Surgical Care Coalition is comprised of 14 professional associations that proudly represent the more than 180,000 surgeons and anesthesiologists working across the country with a common goal of improving the quality of care, and quality of life, for all patients.

CONTACT: media@surgicalcare.org

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SOURCE Surgical Care Coalition