Bipartisan Lawmakers Urge HHS to Soften Medicare Payment Cuts

Proposed Medicare payment cuts and a new payment model could hurt access to cancer treatment and adversely affect the radiation oncology community, a bipartisan group of lawmakers told the Biden administration this week.

In three separate letters to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Senate and House members called for action to avert an estimated $300 million in cuts contained in the proposed 2022 Medicare physician fee schedule and the proposed radiation oncology payment model.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, the new model will bundle payments for radiation ...