02/25/2025
While Medicare payments to hospitals have increased 60% from 2001 to 2024, payments to physicians over that same period have decreased by nearly 30% when adjusted for inflation, the letter continues. Noting cuts are occurring “in times of high inflation, with higher labor and overhead costs,” the letter characterized the Medicare fee schedule as an “underinvestment in physician services” that is contributing to widespread physician burnout – 60% of doctors per a recent Physicians Foundation survey – and jeopardizing independent physician practices.
“More than half of physicians who left independent practice to become employees of corporate-owned systems said declining reimbursement was a driving factor in their decision,” according to a PAI study by NORC at the University of Chicago
After an AARP Bulletin article connected the current physician shortage to a wider health care crisis, TMA joined the Physicians Advocacy Institute to co-author a response focusing on the role that Medicare payment cuts play.
