OPINION:
As President Trump rightly pointed out when creating the Make America Healthy Again Commission, the U.S. is facing a chronic disease epidemic that is cutting too many lives short. There are many reasons for this crisis, but one part of the problem is that Americans are struggling to access care because of an increasingly ominous doctor shortage.
As the administration takes steps to strengthen patient access and improve health care outcomes, it should also consider ideas to stabilize the Medicare system so more doctors are available to treat more Americans, especially in rural communities, which are being hit the hardest.
What’s up with this shortage? Why are so many doctors retiring early? And why are so many young people deciding it’s not worth entering the field?
In short, independent physician practices are struggling with rising medical costs, dwindling Medicare payments and a host of other factors, such as labor and workforce challenges and the lingering economic impact of the pandemic.
The Biden administration failed to address the problem and made it worse by slashing Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors every year President Biden was in office. His 2.8% cut, which went into effect Jan. 1, is putting a tremendous strain on the financial strength of private physician practices across the country. It is forcing doctors to scale back their staff or services, stop seeing new Medicare patients, accept buyouts from and merge with larger hospitals, and even leave the field entirely.
Any way you slice it, the outcomes are devastating for patients, especially those living in rural, hard-to-reach and underserved communities where lack of access is already a problem. Unless Congress acts to restore stability to the Medicare physician payment system soon, higher rates of practice closures and consolidations will force patients to endure longer driving and waiting times. Moreover, patients could be pushed into more expensive care settings, such as hospitals and emergency rooms, just to get the care they need.
The Medicare physician payment system is on shakier ground than ever before. It might come as a surprise that many center-right thought leaders, economists and policy analysts have been at the forefront, sounding the alarm about Medicare’s broken physician payment system for quite some time. One report released last year underscores the urgency in addressing this issue to help prevent further doctor shortages, protect patient access to affordable care and prevent the push toward socialized medicine.
America’s independent physicians have been singled out by these cuts year after year. They are the only providers working with Medicare who do not receive an annual, inflation-based update to account for the rising costs of patient care.
When adjusted for inflation in practice costs, Medicare physician payments declined by a third from 2001 to 2025. It is foolish to believe that community physician practices can continue delivering the same level of high-quality care and support under this deeply flawed and seemingly paralyzed payment system that reimburses them far below the true cost of providing care.
As the Trump administration looks for opportunities to improve access to care and control health care costs, it should heed the advice of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the nonpartisan legislative agency charged with providing recommendations and analysis of the Medicare program. Recently, MedPAC recommended that Congress link next year’s physician payment update to a measure of inflation. Administration officials should follow through on these recommendations for 2026.
In addition, lawmakers should reverse the 2.8% Biden cut that doctors are confronting. They can do that quickly by passing H.R. 879, the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2025. Championed by Rep. Gregory Murphy, North Carolina Republican, a physician himself, plus a bipartisan group of lawmakers, H.R. 879 would help stop the bleeding many physician practices are experiencing. Specifically, it would reverse the 2025 Medicare cut and provide a modest update, an issue that congressional leadership has assured will be addressed in a reconciliation bill this year.
H.R. 879 has strong bipartisan support, including solid conservative support. It would put Medicare physician payments on a more stable path forward while Congress crafts longer-term solutions. I urge Congress to keep its promise and get the job done.
Republicans, in particular, should seize this opportunity to pass H.R. 879 and push for other meaningful reforms that help ensure America’s independent physicians are reimbursed fairly and adequately so they can continue providing high-quality, personalized care. Medicare stability can and should be a core MAHA achievement, putting the Medicare program on the right track, helping expand access to care and ultimately helping Mr. Trump keep his promise to Make America Healthy Again.
• Christian Josi is a veteran public affairs and media relations professional as well as a globe-trotting singer. He writes often for a variety of publications.
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