AHA urges CMS, Congress to provide physician payment increase for 2025

The AHA Sept. 9 urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to work with Congress on providing a pay increase for physicians in 2025 and develop a long-term plan for sustainable physician payment. AHA expressed its concerns to CMS while commenting on the agency's calendar year 2025 physician fee schedule proposed rule, in which the proposed payment update would reduce payments approximately 2.8% from CY 2024 levels. Additionally, the AHA shared concerns on CMS' proposed updates to Medicare Parts A and B overpayment policies, saying the agency's proposed 180-day window to suspend reporting and repayment to complete overpayment investigations is insufficient. The AHA proposed that CMS provide "sufficient exceptions" when complex, multi-year or multi-site investigations require time beyond 180 days. The AHA was pleased to see proposed extensions of several telehealth waivers, including virtual supervision waivers, as well as proposed policies to exclude anomalous spending from Medicare Shared Savings Program financial calculations.