Congressman Horsford Urges White House and Congressional Leadership to Stop Damaging Cuts to Nevada’s Hospitals and Physicians | Congressman Steven Horsford
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Congressman Horsford Urges White House and Congressional Leadership to Stop Damaging Cuts to Nevada’s Hospitals and Physicians

December 6, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Steven Horsford (D-NV-04) and 17 House Democrats sent a letter to President Biden and Congressional leaders to urge quick and decisive action to prevent cuts to hospitals, doctors, and other health care professionals.

"As our nation battles a new variant of the deadly COVID-19 virus, cutting support for Nevada's physicians should be unconscionable," said Congressman Steven Horsford. "I'm proud to join my colleagues to call on the White House and Congressional leadership to prevent cuts to the physician fee schedule. If these cuts go into effect, they will have a damaging impact on access to care for seniors and people with disabilities. It's time for Congress to come together on a bipartisan solution that will allow physicians to continue to provide high-quality care."

Without action from Congress, harmful cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates are set to go into effect on January 1, 2022, threatening access to care for Medicare beneficiaries. In past years, Congress has prevented similar statutory cuts and found offsets to reduce others.

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear President Biden, Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, and Minority Leader McCarthy,

We write today to strongly urge quick and decisive action to prevent the harmful cuts to our nation's hospitals, doctors and other health care professionals that are set to take effect on January 1, 2022. Cutting Medicare reimbursement to our health care heroes during a pandemic is simply unacceptable. We stand ready to work with you to introduce, whip for, and vote to pass legislation to reverse these cuts, as well to work with you to identify ways to pay for reversing these cuts. We are opposed to paying for preventing these cuts with additional provider cuts.

As you know, there are several cuts that are set to take effect on January 1, 2022. Among these are the expiration of a 3.75% payment adjustment to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Conversion Factor, a 2% cut to providers as a result of sequestration, and a 4% cut due to Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) being triggered. Additionally, we need to reverse looming cuts to radiation oncologists set to take effect under the Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model.

All of these cuts can and should be prevented. In previous years Congress has not allowed Statutory PAYGO cuts to take effect and we have found offsets to pay for reversing other similar cuts. We must act soon to give our health care providers certainty as January 1st approaches.

Thank you for your leadership in working with us to beat the pandemic and build a stronger America. We appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to working with you to ensure we reverse these cuts before the new year.

To view the full letter and additional signatories, click here.

Issues:Health