The American Medical Association has raised objections to the June 16 Senate Finance Committee budget reconciliation draft, warning that its cuts to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program could worsen the looming physician shortage and reduce care access, particularly in underserved and rural areas.
The draft legislation deepens cuts to the House’s already-controversial version, which passed on May 22, which comprises around $1 trillion in Medicaid and ACA marketplace health program cuts.
In a June 20 letter to U.S. Sens. John Thune and Charles Schumer, AMA CEO and executive vice president James Madara, MD, condemned the draft’s proposed Medicaid administrative barriers, added cost-sharing burdens and limits on provider financing. Dr. Madara also opposed student loan policy changes, including borrowing caps and residency time exclusion from Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
“Instead, all resident physicians should have access to PSLF during their training years since, regardless of whether they are working in a public, private or nonprofit setting, they are working for low wages to better public health,” Dr. Madara said in the letter.
Dr. Madara also shared concern over the proposal’s lack of guardrails for AI in healthcare and the exclusion of a House-passed measure to index Medicare payments to inflation. He offered to work collaboratively with Congress to ensure physician workforce sustainability and patient access protection.
“By changing Medicaid and CHIP eligibility criteria, reducing their funding and eliminating the Medicare payment provision included in the House-passed reconciliation bill, this legislation risks making matters worse for an exceptional number of people including seniors, pregnant women and persons with disabilities,” AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, MD, also said in a June 20 news release. “As work continues on this bill, we urge senators to listen to patients and physicians before making changes that reduce access to care.”
