AMGA Leaders Express Concern Over Congress’s Failure to Address MD Pay Cuts
Even as questions over physician reimbursement under Medicare continue to dog the leaders of the nation’s physician-led organizations, the leaders of the national associations representing physician groups are speaking out.
On March 20, the leaders of the Alexandria, Va.-based American Medical Group Association (AMGA), in a letter to the four senior leaders in Congress, decried the lack of action on cuts to physician reimbursement, under the continuing resolution that passed through the U.S. Senate on March 13 and was signed by President Trump, averting a looming federal government shutdown.
The letter was signed by Jerry Penso, M.D., president and CEO of AMGA, which represents over 400 medical groups and health systems nationwide, and was addressed to Mike Johnson, House Speaker, and Hakeen Jeffries, House Minority Leader, and John Thune and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders.
The letter began, “Dear Speaker Johnson, Leader Thune, Minority Leader Jeffries, and Minority Leader Schumer, on behalf of AMGA and our members, I want to express my deep disappointment with Congress’ inaction on critical healthcare issues last week. In the recent continuing resolution (CR) legislation, both chambers had an opportunity to address the 2.83-percent cut to the Medicare Part B conversion factor that went into effect in January. Eliminating cuts to Medicare Part B payments would have significantly increased Medicare beneficiary access to care and eased real stresses on maintaining healthcare staffing levels. Now that the CR has passed, AMGA urges Congress to eliminate the cuts promptly, either through a freestanding measure or by attaching them to another legislative vehicle. The time to act is now,” Dr. Penso wrote.
Further, he wrote, “These Medicare cuts are having a real, immediate impact on providers and patients alike. AMGA recently surveyed its membership on what actions they are taking after the conversion factor cuts went into effect in January 2025. Forty percent of AMGA respondents eliminated services to Medicare patients. Twenty-five percent of respondents furloughed or laid off clinical staff, and thirty-one percent furloughed or laid off nonclinical staff. Thirteen percent of survey respondents are not accepting new Medicare patients this year. Access and staffing issues will only worsen if these cuts are left in place for the entire year.”
To put the letter into context, an AMGA Issue Brief posted onto the association’s website late last year notes that, “Over the past few years, decreasing reimbursement rates, coupled with increased labor and supply chain costs have made providing quality care increasingly difficult year after year. Congress intervened in December 2021, 2022, and March 2024 by temporarily pausing some of these cuts. However, while the passage of this partial relief provided critical financial relief to multispecialty medical groups and integrated systems of care, obstacles remain. These reductions stem from the following: Changes to the Medicare Conversion Factor Providers have faced almost 8% in cuts to Medicare Part B reimbursement over the past four years. Congress continues to pass partial, temporary patches to the Medicare Part B conversion factor, which converts relative value units into an actual dollar amount. Medicare updates the conversion factor annually according to a formula specified by statute and, importantly, within the constraints of Medicare’s budget-neutral financing system. However, in 2025, providers are expecting a larger conversion factor cut than last year, even with past partial relief provided by Congress.”
What’s more, AMGA leaders have polled their member organizations, and have compiled the results, under the heading, “Actions taken due to 2025 Medicare Cuts.” The following actions have been taken:
Ø 61.3 percent: Delay delivery system improvements/implement care model changes
Ø 61.3 percent: Hiring freeze/delay hires
Ø 56.3 percent: Delay population health initiatives
Ø 40.0 percent: Eliminate services
Ø 36.3 percent: Redesign physician compensation
Ø 33.8 percent: Postpone risk arrangements
Ø 31.3 percent: Renegotiate non-government contracts
Ø 31.3 percent: Furlough/layoff administrative/non-clinical staff
Ø 27.5 percent: Re-organization
Ø 26.3 percent: Delay EMR/technology investment
Ø 25.0 percent: Furlough/layoff clinical staff
The list underscores some of the tough choices that physician group leaders are having to make in the current policy and reimbursement environment.
