Our nation faces many health care challenges, ranging from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and staffing shortages to issues related to treating chronic diseases, such as obesity, and addressing the behavioral health of patients and clinicians. At Vancouver Clinic, we are eager to face these challenges and help our patients and community. Success, however, is contingent on Congress, which must act to prevent Medicare cuts from taking effect this year. We are calling for a commitment from our nation’s leaders to stop these cuts.
Providers are facing upwards of 10 percent cuts in Medicare reimbursement starting this month. For Vancouver Clinic, this would have a significant impact. The pandemic, along with increasing costs, has already inflicted a toll on our organization and patients. Most health care delivery organizations in Washington are operating at significant losses this year. Our expenses and costs have increased significantly. Talented nurses and medical assistants, critical to making our health care system work, are in short supply. Meanwhile, our payments through insurers are either locked in for one to two years or specified by the government.
These cuts would exacerbate the financial pressure facing all clinicians and hinder our efforts to invest in the staffing and infrastructure needed to meet the health care needs of our patients and address social determinants of health that impede their care.
Congress should cancel the 2 percent Medicare sequester and eliminate the pending 4 percent Medicare Pay-As-You-Go cut. Congress should also cancel a scheduled 4 percent decrease in the Medicare conversion factor. These cuts will cause our medical group, as well as others across the nation, further stress at this critical time and may disrupt our ability to continue to deliver care to the communities we serve.
