Medicare beneficiaries in Massachusetts face a big challenge that gets worse every year: difficulty seeing a doctor because of Congress’ inability to reform the Medicare physician payment framework. Reimbursement cuts have damaged the financial viability of many medical practices, threatening their ability to stay open. Without swift action, more physicians may close their offices, leaving Massachusetts residents with fewer options for care.

This isn’t just some run-of-the-mill bureaucratic issue – it’s a pressing emergency undermining seniors’ access to efficient, high-quality medical care. Unlike other Medicare providers, physicians do not receive a yearly adjustment to offset rising inflation, which has been higher than any time since the 1970s. On top of inflation, doctors’ operational costs increase at an even faster rate. This means the lack of legislative action to increase Medicare reimbursement is driving medical practices – particularly independent doctors – out of business.

Adding additional pressure on an already crumbling system, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began enforcing a 2.83% reduction in physician payments earlier this year. Consider for a moment that over the past 20 years, the cost of maintaining a medical practice has soared by over 50%, meanwhile Medicare payments to doctors have plummeted by 33% when adjusted for inflation. By contrast, hospital reimbursements have climbed nearly 80% over the same time span. There is simply no defensible reason to treat giant hospitals better than independent doctors.

The more medical practices close, the more difficulty patients will have seeing their doctor. Already, one in five doctors, battered by burnout, financial woes, and the lingering effects of the pandemic, is contemplating leaving their practice within the next two years.

This is especially a problem for primary care physicians, who depend on Medicare reimbursements as a revenue source. Massachusetts already faces a major shortage of these vital doctors. In Boston, new patients for primary care doctors wait an average of 40 days for an appointment, almost twice the national average. This not only hurts primary care patients, it worsens overcrowding in our emergency rooms.

This challenge transcends party lines – it’s a matter of pragmatism. Policymakers need to shore up the Medicare physician payment structure, ensuring reimbursements are equitable, consistent, and tied to inflation. Our very own Congressman Richard Neal, a key figure on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, can play a pivotal role in spearheading this effort to preserve healthcare for tens of thousands of Medicare enrollees in Massachusetts.

For starters, Congress should pass H.R. 879, the “Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act” to reverse the 2.83% cut that took effect at the start of this year and deliver a 2% payment increase to provide immediate relief to doctors struggling with higher costs and lower reimbursement. Any legislative delays will only speed up physician shortages and imperil access to care.

Congress shouldn’t stop there. Patients and doctors need a lasting fix that permanently aligns Medicare physician payments with inflation, ending the injustice of excluding doctors from annual updates. Payment certainty would empower physicians to serve Medicare patients without the fear of imminent funding cuts.

For far too long, Congress has opted for temporary band-aids over meaningful reform, but the system has reached its breaking point. Medicare is an essential revenue source for primary care physicians.

Representative Neal’s track record as a healthcare advocate makes him the right leader for this moment. Congress needs to act now, before more physicians abandon Medicare or retire altogether, further worsening patients’ access to quality healthcare.

Demetrius Atsalis served as State Representative from the 2nd Barnstable District from 1999 to 2013.