Radiology groups back Medicare pay-stability bill

Radiology groups joined other physician organizations in urging Congress to pass H.R. 8163, the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act. MGMA published the advocacy letter May 19.

The letter was addressed to Reps. Greg Murphy, MD, R-N.C., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. Signatories said the bill is a “necessary step” toward a more predictable Medicare physician payment system.

ACR has separately expressed support for the bill, saying it would change how Medicare applies budget neutrality in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The college said the bill would reduce sharp payment swings and support broader Medicare payment reform.

Murphy introduced the legislation March 31 with bipartisan House co-sponsors. His office said the bill is intended to update Medicare Physician Fee Schedule policies and improve reimbursement stability for physicians and patients.

Proposed changes include raising the budget neutrality threshold from $20M to $54.3M and indexing the threshold to the Medicare Economic Index every 5 years.

H.R. 8163 would also limit year-to-year conversion factor changes to 2.5%, beginning in 2027. The bill would require CMS to update direct practice expense inputs at least every 5 years and allow corrections when utilization estimates for newly unbundled codes are inaccurate.

Physician groups cited Medicare payment erosion in their letter. They said inflation-adjusted Medicare physician payments have fallen by about 33% since 2001, while practice costs have continued to rise.

MGMA also backed the legislation in March, saying current budget neutrality rules have triggered broad reimbursement cuts when relative value unit changes exceed a low threshold.

The AMA said H.R. 8163 is part of a broader physician payment reform agenda. The association said it is also working on a Senate companion bill.