A bipartisan group of representatives introduced a bill Friday that would offset and exceed a pay cut for doctors that went into effect at the top of this year.
The proposed adjustment would take effect April 1 and run through the rest of 2025, thereby leaving the year’s 2.83% Medicare pay cut in place for services furnished from January to March. Services furnished after the cutoff, however, would see a 6.62% increase—offsetting the pay cut, adjusting for inflation and prorating the first three months of pay cuts.
January’s pay cut plus Medicare’s below-cost reimbursement rates, medical inflation and declining reimbursement rates have physicians “facing unprecedented financial viability challenges” and necessitate the fix, said Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D., R-North Carolina, who introduced the bill (titled the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2025).
“The future of private practice medicine, the most cost-efficient and personalized care, is in dire straits,” Murphy said in a release. “This bipartisan legislation prevents further cuts, provides a modest inflationary adjustment to help ease the cost of care, and ensures Medicare remains viable for both doctors and patients."
Joining Murphy in cosponsoring the legislation are Reps. Jimmy Panetta, D-California; John Joyce, M.D., R-Pennsylvania; Raul Ruiz, M.D., D-California; Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D., R-Iowa; Kim Schrier, M.D., D-Washington; Claudia Tenney, R-New York; Ami Bera, M.D., D-California; Carol Miller, R-West Virginia.; and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois. Much of this group led the charge on similar legislation introduced last October, the provisions of which did not find their way into a year-end spending bill.
A release from the lawmakers noted that the Medicare reimbursement cuts “have significant ripple effects across our healthcare system,” such as reduced care in rural and underserved areas, physician practice layoffs or office closures and accelerated burnout. They also pointed to estimates from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services projecting a 6.4% increase in practice costs.
In a recent meeting, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, a panel of policy experts that advises Congress on Medicare program changes, also voiced its support for a change to the pay cuts—though their preferred fix would toss the current law for single update equal to the Medicare Economic Index minus one percentage point, plus safety-net add-on payments that are not budget neutral.
The lawmakers’ release listed more than 150 provider professional associations, trade groups and lobbyists that they said support the bill.
Among the most prominent and vocal on the issue, the American Medical Association (AMA), has estimated that inflation-adjusted Medicare reimbursement for physician services has dropped by 33% since 2001. Further, while the payments rose by 7% during that period, medical practice costs jumped by 59%, the AMA said.
“This legislation would begin to roll back the cuts physician practices have faced over the last four years while we all have experienced high inflation,” AMA President Bruce A. Scott, M.D., said in a release. “As evidenced by this bipartisan legislation, lawmakers know the trend is unsustainable and, if left unaddressed, will ultimately harm their constituents. Patient access to care and practice sustainability are not partisan or geographical issues. It’s an urgent national issue that demands immediate attention from Congress.”
The AMA said the government’s current funding deadline, March 14, will be the opening for the bill’s pay increases to become law.
The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) also urged “swift passage” of the bill. In a statement, it highlighted practices’ “uncertainty” and other repercussions stemming “from the congressional failure to reverse the 2025 Medicare fee schedule cuts.”
“These cuts have negatively impacted the viability of their Medicare business, commercial contracts tied to Medicare rates, as well as Medicaid reimbursement in states that use Medicare as a benchmark,” the MGMA wrote in its statement. “With nearly 80% of all physicians now employed by facilities and larger entities, Medicare beneficiaries in areas of the country that rely solely on community-based medical practices are especially vulnerable to access issues. Without immediate congressional action on this important legislation, more and more physician practices will be forced to close their doors, unable to keep up with rapidly rising staff salaries, rent, and administrative costs.”