Advocacy News

The advisory group has been raising concerns about the current Medicare payment system and discussing ways to address rising practice costs.  

The chances of a Medicare fix in the funding bill are dimming, but the Academy and physicians in Congress will continue to push for an urgent solution.

The House of Representatives plans to vote on legislation that would fund the government for the rest of 2025 but ignores the Medicare cuts that took effect on Jan. 1.

The Academy’s Health Policy Committee consulted with Academy staff on many of the top advocacy issues arising from the January 2025 Federal Secretariat meeting.

Responding to members’ request for assistance, the Academy is fighting policies that assign lower reimbursement for certain high-level services.

Academy leaders have identified physician payment reform, reducing practice burdens, Medicare Advantage and Quality Performance Program issues, as well as military veterans’ eye care as some of our top federal advocacy priorities for 2025.

A bipartisan group of our congressional champions has introduced new legislation to reverse the 2025 Medicare pay cuts and add 2% update to the conversion factor for the rest of the year. Help us build support for this much needed update.

The congressionally mandated advisory commission’s unanimous vote to recommend a single-year positive update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule connected to the projected increase in the Medicare Economic Index bolsters our position as we push Congress to address the Medicare 2025 pay cuts that went into effect on Jan. 1.  

This new reporting option is available for voluntary reporting for the 2025 MIPS performance year/2027 payment year.

Congress has recessed and left Washington, D.C., for the year without addressing the impending cuts to Medicare payment, set to take effect Jan. 1, 2025, putting patient’s access to sight-saving care at risk.