The American Medical Group Association has urged the Senate to reject a June 16 Senate Finance Committee drafted bill that could slash nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and cut protections for Medicare Part B reimbursements.
“The Senate Finance Committee’s draft bill will result in millions of Medicaid patients losing healthcare coverage and will put untenable stress on an already stretched healthcare system,” AMGA said in a June 18 news release.
The drafted legislation builds off of the controversial proposals of the House, which passed a version of the bill on May 22 that featured around $1 trillion in Medicaid and ACA marketplace health program cuts.
Jerry Penso, MD, president and CEO of AMGA, said in the release that the committee’s proposal to eliminate a House provision to relieve ongoing Medicare Part B payment cuts “only exacerbates the strain on providers.”
“Our medical group and health system physicians have coped with 8% cuts to their physician services the past four years,” Dr. Penso said. “This bill increases cuts to Medicaid and lowers payments for Medicare, all while increasing the number of uninsured patients.”
AMGA also pointed to its recent member survey that highlighted the long-term outlook on the proposed legislation. The survey found that 85% of members would be forced to cut Medicaid services, 51% would cut back pediatric care, 47% would reduce maternity care and 41% would reduce behavioral health services. It also revealed that 72% expect furloughs or layoffs that include frontline clinicians, nearly 50% of rural facilities expect restructuring or closures and 25% would shutter telehealth programs.
