Eyeworld

22 | EYEWORLD | FALL 2024 ASCRS NEWS GOVERNMENT RETIONS UPDATE Contact Parekh: parag2020@gmail.com by Parag Parekh, MD, MPA ASCRS Government Relations Committee Chair physicians and administrators from across the country, including five ASCRS YES Legislative Fly-In Scholarship recipients, members of the ASCRS Government Relations Committee, ASOA President Hayley Boling, MBA, COE, ASCRS Executive Director Steve Speares, ASCRS Pres- ident Vance Thompson, MD, and ASCRS Vice President Francis Mah, MD, heard presentations from physician-legislators and visited congres- sional offices to urge legislative action to stop the cuts and fix the payment system. Represen- tative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA), an ophthalmologist, stopped by the ASCRS closing night dinner to greet members and provide an outlook for healthcare legislation in the last few months of the 118th Congress. While on the Hill, our members urged leg- islators to cosponsor H.R. 2474, the Strength- ening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act, which would provide an annual inflation update equal to the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) for Medicare physician payments, as well as H.R. 6371, the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act, and H.R. 6545, the Physician Fee Schedule Update and Improvements Act, both of which would reform the budget-neutrality rules for Medicare. "It is vitally important that administrators join with physicians to fight these cuts," Ms. Boling said. "Cuts in Medicare reimbursement directly impact the ability of our practices to keep the doors open and provide the quality care our patients need. I try to come to Wash- ington every year to help in these efforts. It's Act now to help stop Medicare physician reimbursement cuts ASCRS and ASOA members participated in the Capitol Hill Advocacy Conference, and you can make a difference, too W ith Congress back in Washing- ton, D.C. for a few weeks before adjourning for the 2024 elec- tions, there is an urgent need for legislators to address the 2.8% cut to physician payment in the proposed CY 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) before the end of the year. The CY 2025 pro- posed MPFS conversion factor of $32.36 is a de- crease of approximately 2.8% ($0.93) from the CY 2024 MPFS conversion factor of $33.2875. This is the fifth year in a row that physicians have faced cuts under the Medicare system. ASCRS submitted comments on the proposed rule on September 9. It's widely acknowledged by experts that chronically inadequate Medicare payment rates will eventually take a toll on older adults' access to high-quality care. ASCRS has been actively lobbying Congress on the need to prevent the cuts, as well as urging legislators to pass legisla- tion addressing the flaws in the current Medi- care payment system that leads to repeated cuts to physician pay. In July, ASCRS and ASOA members came to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Alli- ance of Specialty Medicine's 2024 Capitol Hill Advocacy Conference. More than two dozen ASCRS President Vance Thompson, MD, with Sen. John Thune (R-SD) Government Relations Committee member Sandra Yeh, MD, with ophthalmologist and congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA) ASCRS YES member Asmaa Zidan, MD, with Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) Source (all): ASCRS

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