Here are five recent updates on physician pay:
1. As of Jan. 1, Medicare is paying physicians 2.83% less than last year for services provided to the country’s 66 million Medicare patients.
2. The physician fee schedule conversion factor for 2025 is $32.35, down from $33.29 in 2024.
3. A bipartisan group of 10 House members on Jan. 31 introduced a bill to stop the 2.83% Medicare physician pay cut this year and provide a 2% pay bump to stabilize physician practices and protect patients’ access to care.
4. If passed, the “Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act,” would prospectively cancel the 2.83% cut that took effect Jan 1. Similar legislation saw bipartisan, bicameral support in December, but Congress failed to address the issue during the lame-duck session.
5. The American Medical Association said it strongly supports the bill and will work with members to include it in upcoming legislation to fund the federal government beyond the March 14 statutory deadline.
“This legislation would begin to roll back the cuts physician practices have faced over the last four years while we all have experienced high inflation,” AMA President Bruce Scott, MD, said in a Jan. 31 news release. “Patient access to care and practice sustainability are not partisan or geographical issues. It’s an urgent national issue that demands immediate attention from Congress.”
