Representatives from hospitals and health systems, including FAH, wrote a letter to Congressional leadership asking Congress to prevent Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) sequester from taking effect, as well as extend the moratorium on Medicare sequester cuts. The Medicare sequester moratorium is currently scheduled to expire on December 31, 2021, which could cause a reduction of $4.7 billion in fee-for-service Medicare payments in 2022. Failure to waive PAYGO would result in an additional $9.4 billion in payment cuts to hospital providers in fee-for-service Medicare next year. The groups note that “additional Medicare reductions to providers are not sustainable and put our members’ ability to care for their patients at risk.”

Read the letter here.

Also today, the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care, which is made up of FAH and major hospital groups, launched a new TV ad highlighting the same Medicare cuts. As the TV ad explains, unless Congress acts, hospitals, health systems and other health care providers face billions of dollars in Medicare payment cuts starting next year. These cuts would hit hospitals at the worst possible time, with COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations on the rise again, and with hospitals facing workforce shortages, increased costs for supplies and equipment and rising inflation.

The Coalition launched the ad with a heavy presence in Washington, D.C. and the multimedia campaign will include a digital media push on numerous platforms.

View the ad here.