In a letter to House and Senate Leadership (PDF, 73KB), APA and more than 40 national health care groups called for an extension of the Medicare sequester moratorium through the end of the Public Health Emergency by including the bipartisan Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act (H.R. 315) in the next COVID-19 relief package.
The pandemic has caused financial strain for many psychologists and other health care practitioners and has impacted their ability to provide essential care to patients, along with Medicare reimbursement decline. APA will advocate for timely enactment of H.R. 315 to help ease clinicians’ financial difficulties.
H.R. 315 is similar to the APA-endorsed bill (H.R. 8840, 116th Congress) that Reps. Brad Schneider (D-Ill) and David McKinley (R-W.V.) led in the last Congress to prevent the Dec. 31, 2020, expiration of the suspension of the 2% across the board Medicare sequester cut, as part of the CARES Act. APA and coalition advocacy efforts resulted in a temporary hold of the 2% cut from January 1, 2021, through March 31, 2021, as enacted in the end of year congressional package, known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
For more information, contact Laurel Stine.