ASE Joins AMA Letter of Support for the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act

On May 19, ASE joined the American Medical Association and a broad coalition of national medical specialty societies and state medical associations in sending a letter to Representatives Greg Murphy and Tom Suozzi expressing strong support for H.R. 8163, the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act. The letter urged prompt passage of legislation addressing the structural flaws driving decades of Medicare physician payment erosion, including a two-year look-back period for CMS to correct utilization misestimates, mandatory updates to direct cost inputs at least once every five years, modernization of the budget neutrality threshold unchanged since 1992, and a 2.5% cap on year-to-year conversion factor changes.

ASE strongly supports these efforts, as inadequate Medicare reimbursement directly threatens echocardiography practices’ ability to maintain the advanced equipment and specialized staff necessary to serve Medicare beneficiaries. Cardiovascular imaging depends on expensive, rapidly evolving ultrasound technology and highly trained professionals, yet CMS has gone years without updating the cost inputs that determine reimbursement. Stable and accurate Medicare payment is essential to preserving patient access to lifesaving cardiac imaging.