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- AMA, CAP Urge Congress to Delay Medicare Budget Sequester
The American Medical Association (AMA), the CAP, and 127 medical and state organizations lobbied Congress to relieve financial burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic on physicians during the current national emergency. In a February 12 letter to congressional leaders in the House and the Senate, the group supported legislation that would suspend a 2% across-the-board Medicare budget sequester cut for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. The CAP has supported similar efforts over the past year to stop Medicare cuts and protect pathology services' value. Without additional action, the 2% Medicare cut to physician services will go into effect on April 1.
In the letter, the groups urged congressional leaders to take legislative action. “With the March 31 deadline looming, it is critical for Congress to take immediate steps to further postpone the imposition of the Medicare sequester. We, therefore, strongly urge you to pass HR 315, the Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act—bipartisan legislation that would continue the current Medicare sequester moratorium for the duration of the [public health emergency].”
Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and David McKinley (R-WV) introduced the Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act on
January 29. Previously, Congress postponed the budget sequester until March 31 in its large spending bill enacted during the final days of 2020. A 2021 moratorium on the budget sequester is being championed by the AMA and other physician associations representing specialties like the CAP.