While S. 610—Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act (PL 117-71) provided temporary relief from most of the 3.75 percent cut to the conversion factor which was scheduled to take place on January 1, 2022, there are still extensive cuts for office-based specialists under the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule that were left unaddressed.

These “clinical labor” cuts are the most significant negative impact of the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule by far and are expected to cut reimbursement by more than 20 percent for some specialties.

These cuts threaten to undermine efforts to address health inequity, accelerate health system consolidation, and weaken our ability to deal with the pandemic. There is widespread agreement that the Physician Fee Schedule is desperately in need of reform.

Please contact your Member of Congress and urge them to include relief to office-based specialists in the February omnibus appropriations legislation to protect access to care for Medicare patients around the country.