On December 21, 2024, President Biden signed H.R. 10545, the American Relief Act, a stopgap measure to keep the government funded until March 14, 2025. While the bill extended many expiring healthcare programs, including the pandemic-era telehealth waivers, the final bill did not include a provision to stop the 2.8 percent Medicare physician payment cut, which went into effect on January 1, 2025, despite broad bipartisan support to stop the cut and provide an inflation-based update for 2025.
“Physicians are frustrated and patients are angry,” said American Medical Association President Bruce Scott, MD. “Obviously, the Medicare payment system is broken. With another cut almost certain to take effect, Congress must enact meaningful long-term reforms. The American Medical Association has put forward many substantive solutions and is eager to work with the new Congress and administration.”
