The recently introduced Patients First Act, H.R. 9693, would reform the Medicare physician payment system by providing greater stability, expanding opportunities for participation in payment models, and better aligning payment updates with the actual costs of care and inflation. Led by Reps. Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC), John Joyce, MD (R-PA), and Kim Schrier, MD (D-WA), this bipartisan bill would help create a more stable and predictable Medicare payment system so physicians can keep caring for patients in their communities.
Payment cuts and instability have forced physicians to make critical decisions — such as consolidation or limiting the number of beneficiaries they can serve — for financial rather than patient care reasons. These cuts particularly impact small, rural, and independent practices. Despite rising practice costs, Medicare physician payment has fallen by approximately 33 percent since 2001, when adjusted for inflation.
These cuts combined with patchwork solutions have created instability for physicians and limited patient access to high-quality, value-based care.
H.R. 9693 would remedy these shortcomings by:
- Providing a permanent annual payment update tied to the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) to better reflect increases in practice costs
- Modernizing budget neutrality policies, including provisions from H.R. 8163
- Creating a physician-led process for developing simplified, clinically relevant quality measures
- Expanding opportunities for physicians to participate in alternative payment models
Contact your member of Congress today and urge them to cosponsor the Patients First Act, H.R. 9693.
Physicians need a stable Medicare payment system to keep putting patients first.