ACR Frustrated with Congress Failures on Physician Fee Schedule and Research Programs Save

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) expressed deep dissatisfaction that the recent passage of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, failed to address payment cuts imposed in the CY25 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) at the beginning of this year.

“It is extremely disheartening that once again Congress has let down our nation’s physicians and our seniors by failing to address the devastating payment cuts that have cumulated into an effective 33% cut since 2001,” said Carol Langford, MD, MHS, president of the ACR. “Members of Congress cannot continue to ignore the economic issues doctors are facing, pay less than the cost of care, and hope that patients are not negatively impacted.”

The package also reduced funding to biomedical research in the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program from $1.5 billion to $650 million. “Arthritis is the second leading cause of medical discharge from the US Army behind battlefield wounds and slashing this crucial research funding by 57% means less opportunity to prevent arthritis from continuing to force early retirements on our armed service members.”

“While we commend the extensions included for telehealth flexibilities, failure to appropriately compensate physicians will only continue to exacerbate care access issues. If Congress wants to do the right thing for doctors and patients, they’ll move quickly to pass the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act to address urgent payment concerns. They should also partner with stakeholders, like the ACR, to bring meaningful and sustainable reform to Medicare physician payment,” Langford concluded.