AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CATARACT & REFRACTIVE SURGERY

Oppose provisions in the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: 1) a -2.5% efficiency adjustment to Work RVUs for non-time-based services; 2) a new methodology for calculating indirect practice expenses in facility settings that unfairly penalizes facility-based surgical services. Support for H.R. 6160, the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act, which would provide an annual inflationary update for Medicare physician payment tied to the Medicare Economic Index (MEI). Support for The Efficiency Adjustment Delay Act (HR 7520), which would would delay the efficiency adjustment provision in the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule until January of 2030 and require CMS to submit a report to Congress within 2 years containing an assessment of whether it is necessary to apply a one-time, across-the-board adjustment to work relative value units, and to make corresponding updates to the intraservice portion of physician time inputs for non-time-based services, with respect to services that have not been revalued or reviewed within the 10-year period preceding the calendar year in which such one-time adjustment would be applied. Support for the Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 (H.R. 3514/S. 1816) that would would streamline and standardize prior authorization requirements within the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Support for H.R. 8163, the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act, urging Congress to take immediate steps to stabilize Medicare physician reimbursement and to modernize the Medicare payment system.

Urge Congress appropriators to reject proposed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations and provisions in the Presidents Budget Request that would prohibit or restrict the use of federal research grants to support high-quality, peer reviewed scientific publications. Responded to a CMS RFI: Request for Information Related to Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare Activity (CRUSH) [CMS-6098-NC]." The response went to Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Letter to Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Department of the Treasury; Keith Sonderling, Acting Secretary of the Department of Labor; and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, expressing growing concern that some health plans are undermining the careful balance achieved in the No Surprises Act (NSA).