Patients First Act
In 2015, Congress passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). The goal was simple: pay doctors based on the quality of care, not the quantity of services, provided. While this sounds good in theory, that has not been the case in reality.
Under MACRA, Medicare must recalculate annually what it pays healthcare providers using a set statutory formula. Unfortunately, that formula fails to account for inflation or rising labor and overhead costs. So, year after year, a vicious cycle has emerged: Medicare recalculates an imperfect reimbursement rate, which forces healthcare providers to cut costs or restrict patient services, which forces Congress to step in at the last minute with a costly, short-term funding fix to “correct” the flawed formula and keep the lights on for American patients.
This reliance on temporary band-aids has cost taxpayers more than if Congress was to take a step back and address the root of the problem: the flawed MACRA formula itself.
Worst of all, the dependence on last-minute legislative magic has forced doctors and healthcare providers to close their doors or sell to big hospital systems just to survive. When that happens, patients lose. They lose access to their preferred provider, they lose the personalized care they want and deserve, and they are forced to pay higher out-of-pocket costs. It's especially painful in our rural communities, where families now have to drive hours just to receive care.
Dr. Joyce has partnered with fellow doctors in Congress, Dr. Murphy (NC-03) and Dr. Schrier (WA-08), on a proposal to reform this broken system, one that lets healthcare providers across every specialty revitalize their practices and focus on providing quality care, instead of spending time fighting tooth and nail just to keep their community's only lifeline to care open.
Read the press release HERE.
Read the Section by Section HERE.
Read the full bill text HERE.