Washington, DC — Today, United Specialists for Patient Access (USPA) voiced its support for the joint letter sent by three medical device trade associations. The Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA), Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), and the Medical Imaging Technology Alliance (MITA) sent a letter to the House and Senate leadership in support of H.R. 3674, the Providing Relief and Stability for Medicare Patients Act of 2023.

Click here to view the letter.

The letter states, in part, “We are writing to express our continued concern regarding ongoing Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) payment cuts to office-based specialist physicians. While the need for overall PFS reform rightfully has received significant attention in recent years, the disproportionate, negative impact on office-based specialty care has not.”

The letter goes on to say, “H.R. 3674, the Providing Relief and Stability for Medicare Patients Act of 2023, specifically addresses these payment cuts by providing two years of targeted relief for specialty care practices through an increase to the non-facility practice expense relative value units (PE RVUs) for services performed in an office-based setting that require the use of high-tech medical devices or piece of medical equipment. This relief is targeted at those services that were most negatively impacted under the 2022-2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule cuts stemming from the update to the clinical labor policy.”

Dr. Mark Garcia, USPA board member and CMO for American Vascular Associates, said, “We are grateful for the support of the MDMA, AdvaMed, and MITA in this united effort to pass H.R. 3674 and stop these devastating cuts initiated by CMS. Office-based specialists and their patients are trying to survive a perfect storm that is damaging our health care system with each reduction in Medicare reimbursement levels. Specialists cannot continue to see dramatic cuts year after year, manage record inflation, treat COVID-19, and at the same time continue to provide quality care to patients.”