The lawmakers’ proposed Medicare physician pay increase, meant to offset and exceed a 2.8% pay cut that began in January, would likely need to find its way into a funding bill Congress must pass in March. It has broad support across provider groups.
By Dave Muoio, January 31, 2025
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 pro-rating 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-N.C., 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.”
