E-Newsletter

PHYSICIANS: Prop 35, the November ballot initiative that would secure dedicated funding to keep hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices open, has launched a new Action Center to activate supporters.

Physicians are trusted messengers across regional and partisan lines and are important advocates to ensure California votes Yes on 35 to protect and expand access to health care.

For the fifth straight year, physicians are facing a Medicare payment cut unless Congress intervenes. These cuts coincide with ongoing growth in the cost of practicing medicine as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) projects that the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) practice expense will increase by 3.6% in 2025.

This cut is mostly due to an expiring 2.93% temporary increase that Congress authorized and a statutory freeze in fee schedule payment updates under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). When enacting MACRA in 2015, Congress froze payment updates in 2025 based on projections that physicians would transition to value–based Alternative Payment Models (APMs). Unfortunately, CMS has failed to approve most APMs and therefore, there are not enough opportunities for physicians to participate.

CMA has been sounding the alarm in Congress that Medicare payment does not cover a physician’s cost to provide care, nor does it keep pace with inflation. Since 2001, physician fees have declined by 29%, adjusted for inflation, while other Medicare providers received 60% increases during the same time. Physician practices cannot continue to absorb increasing costs while payment rates stagnate or are cut.

Both the nonpartisan Medicare Payment Advisory Commission [MedPAC] — which advises Congress on Medicare payment issues — and the Medicare Trustees have issued new warnings about access to care problems for America’s seniors if the gap continues to grow between what Medicare pays physicians and what it costs to provide high quality care to patients.

A 2022 CMA Survey showed that inadequate Medicare rates are forcing 70% of California physicians to limit Medicare patients. Congressional inaction is harming patient access to care.

CMA and AMA are urging Congress to stop the cut and enact a permanent annual inflation update along with other key reforms to the Medicare physician fee schedule, including an overhaul of the Merit–Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting programs. Visit AMA’s Fix Medicare Now website to join the fight to improve physician financial stability and preserve access to care.

Awardees are selected based on their ability to support and expand the physician workforce to meet the demands of California’s diverse and growing patient population, with a focus on medically underserved populations. Eligible GME programs include family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics and emergency medicine. Additionally, combined programs with at least one eligible discipline are welcome to apply.

For more information and to sign up for an informational webinar, visit CalMedForce.org.