Physician groups push Medicare office-based care bill

A coalition of 12 national physician specialty societies is urging Congress to pass H.R. 7863, the Promoting Fairness for Medicare Providers Act of 2026.

The coalition includes the Society of Interventional Radiology and the American College of Radiation Oncology. Other supporting groups represent urology, nephrology, pain medicine, vascular surgery, venous medicine, interventional cardiology, and related office-based procedural fields.

GovInfo lists the bill as introduced in the House on March 9, 2026, by Rep. Gus Bilirakis, with Reps. Raul Ruiz, Greg Murphy, and Danny Davis of Illinois as cosponsors.

The bill was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Ways and Means. Its full title says it would amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to align Medicare payment for specified surgical procedures with high-cost supplies furnished in office-based facilities.

Under the introduced bill text, the proposed payment policy would begin in 2027. It would apply to specified high-supply-cost surgical procedures furnished in an office-based facility.

Payment for facility services would be set at 90% of the amount that would be payable if the procedure were furnished in an ambulatory surgical center. The bill also includes a copayment limit tied to the inpatient hospital deductible amount.

For a procedure to qualify, the bill says it must have been payable in an ambulatory surgical center as of 2023 and payable in a physician office under the Physician Fee Schedule. It must also include a HCPCS code with a supply item priced above $500.

The coalition said Medicare reimbursement fell below direct cost for more than 300 common office-based CPT codes in 2025, before overhead, malpractice, or physician work were counted.

Office-based reimbursement for those procedures has fallen 22% since 2019, while hospital outpatient rates for the same services rose 22%, according to the coalition.

The bill text defines an office-based facility as a physician office that meets health, safety, and other standards set by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and enters into a Medicare participation agreement for the covered procedures.