ASA President Donald E. Arnold, M.D., FACHE, FASA, issued the following statement regarding the recent release of a federal government funding package that does not include critically needed Medicare physician payment relief:
“On behalf of the nation’s anesthesiologists, I am extremely disappointed in the lack of a “Doc Fix” in the funding package released over the weekend. Every day our highly skilled anesthesiologists, whether involved in anesthesia, critical care or pain medicine services, provide safe, high-quality care to tens of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries. Yet, right now, these physicians are again the subject of a punitive payment cut. The current cut, which went into effect on January 1, 2025, is more than 2%, not factoring in inflation. Medicare payments for physician services are already unreasonably low making yet another round of cuts even more damaging. Adjusted for inflation, Medicare payments to anesthesiologists are about half of what they were in 1991. Congress must fix this broken and unsustainable system. The first thing they can do is stop the current cut before it continues any longer and the vehicle to do that is the government funding bill or continuing resolution. Congress, please act.”
