Washington, DC (December 21, 2022) The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) President Sunil V. Rao, MD, FSCAI released the following statement in response to Congress’ failure to prevent Medicare cuts in the 2023 omnibus year-end spending package:

“SCAI is concerned by Congress’ failure to prevent Medicare cuts for next year in the year-end omnibus package, which will pose a critical threat to the financial viability of physician practices that are essential for Medicare beneficiaries to receive quality and affordable medical care. The bill fails to prevent the scheduled 4.5% cut to the Medicare conversation factor for 2023 in its entirety,and omits critical policy changes designed to explicitly address CMS’ clinical labor update policy.

“The scheduled cuts to Medicare reimbursement payments and the financial effects of CMS’ clinical labor policy will continue to force many physicians to make difficult choices. Most worrying is the potential impact on patients’ access to care, especially in underserved and rural areas where Medicare beneficiaries often make up a higher proportion of the population. Congress must ensure that Medicare patients maintain access to their physicians and enact physician payment reforms that account for inflation as a priority for 2023, to deliver the program stability that both patients and providers need.”