Advocacy Letters

Statement for the Record from SGIM on How Primary Care Improves Health Care Efficiency – March 2024

SGIM provided Congressional testimony for a hearing to consider how primary care improves health care. SGIM believes that establishing a technical advisory committee (TAP) to define and value E/M and other non-procedural work is critical to appropriately reimbursing for primary care services and supporting the delivery of high-quality primary care.

SGIM Comments on Centers for Medicare Services Data Access Policy – April 2024

SGIM urges CMS to revise its data access policy to ensure that researchers across the country continue to have access to claims data for important primary care research efforts.

Statement for the Record, Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Physician Payment – April 2024

SGIM highlights the critical role of primary care physicians and the need for structural reforms to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to support more equitable physician reimbursement and appropriate valuation of primary care services.

SGIM Supports Rural Residency Planning and Development Act of 2024 – May 2024

SGIM joins the National Rural Health Association and 17 other societies in supporting the Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Act of 2024 (H.R. 7855), bipartisan legislation that aims to tackle the physician workforce shortage, particularly in rural areas. The bill would codify the RRPD program, an existing, effective federal grant program that provides funding for the startup costs associated with residency programs in rural areas, thereby alleviating the physician shortage and improving healthcare access in rural communities.

SGIM Comments on Medicare Advantage RFI - May 2024

SGIM submitted comments on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) request for information on Medicare Advantage (MA) data, including key recommendations to improve access to care and promote health equity. The Society recommended that CMS collect and report specific data elements at both the MA plan and enrollee levels to enhance transparency, empower patients, improve care coordination and quality, and lower costs for patients.

SGIM Comments on CMS’ FY 2025 IPPS Proposed Rule – June 2024

SGIM commented on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule for FY 2025 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IPPS) for Acute Care Hospitals. Comments focused on proposed changes to the severity levels for Z codes describing inadequate housing and housing instability, highlighting that these factors are associated with poor health outcomes and health inequities. Additionally, SGIM provided feedback on payment for graduate medical education (GME) and proposed modifications to the criteria for new residency programs.

SGIM Requests Funding for Public Health Research on Firearm Morbidity and Mortality Prevention - June 2024

Along with 433 other organizations, SGIM called on House and Senate appropriators to increase federal support for gun violence prevention research in fiscal year 2025. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institutes of Justice have invested in this public health research to develop an evidence-based approach to firearms violence.

SGIM Comments to Senate Finance Committee on Medicare Physician Fee Schedule - June 2024

In response to the Senate Finance Committee’s White Paper titled “Bolstering Chronic Care through Physician Payment: Current Challenges and Policy Options in Medicare Part B,” SGIM provided comments outlining the need to make significant reforms to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, including enacting policies designed to support the delivery of high-quality primary care. Besides addressing the need to provide positive updates to the conversion factor and reform the budget neutrality requirements, these comments outline the Society’s recommendations on the considerations that must factor into the design of a hybrid payment system for primary care and the need for a technical advisory committee to value evaluation and management services appropriately.

SGIM Signs Onto Letter Opposing NIH Restructuring - July 2024

SGIM, along with over 200 other organizations, opposed the restructuring of the NIH in the House’s FY 2025 Labor-HHS funding bill. Instead of a bipartisan reauthorization, the House Appropriations Committee’s bill reduced the 27 NIH institutes and centers to 15 as per a proposal from Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers. SGIM and others urged the House Appropriations Committee leadership not to restructure NIH without an open, bipartisan reauthorization process.

SGIM Comments on the Pay PCPs Act - July 2024

SGIM responded to a request for information from Senators Whitehouse (D-RI) and Cassidy (R-LA) on their Pay PCPs Act, which authorizes a hybrid payment for primary care, reduces cost sharing for certain primary care service, and creates a technical advisory committee (TAC) to help the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services more accurately determine reimbursement rates for individual services. SGIM strongly supports the provisions of the legislation but recommends that the TAC value evaluation and management services expeditiously to inform the per-member per-month payment in a hybrid system.

SGIM Comments on CY 2025 MPFS Proposed Rule - September 2024

SGIM was pleased to submit comments in response to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule for the calendar year 2025. The Society provided extensive comments and support for the agency’s proposal to adopt coding and payment policies to recognize advanced primary care management (APCM) services. Additionally, SGIM commented in support of the agency’s proposals to extend telehealth flexibilities and expand the use of the office/outpatient E/M visit complexity add-on code G2211. SGIM also responded to CMS’ requests for information related to services addressing health-related social needs and expanding the list of services that can be furnished under the primary care exception (PCE).

SGIM Provides Feedback on House Medicare Payment Reform Outline - October 2024

SGIM submitted comments on the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees’ outline focused on Medicare physician payment reform. Specifically, SGIM expressed support for (1) an annual inflation-based adjustment to the conversion factor equal to the Medicare Economic Index; (2) the establishment of a technical advisory committee to define and value E/M and other non-procedural work to more appropriately reimburse primary care services, and (3) correcting budget neutrality assumptions and revising the budget neutrality threshold. SGIM appreciates the Committees’ interest in reforming Medicare physician payment to ensure financial stability for physicians and protect patient access to high-quality primary care.

SGIM Supports the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act - November 2024

SGIM joined more than 125 organizations in supporting the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act (S. 644/H.R. 1359) as a priority in any year-end legislative package. The bipartisan legislation would responsibly expand access to methadone treatment for opioid use disorder in medical settings and areas where it is not available now.

SGIM responds to Medicare $2 Drug List RFI - December 2024

SGIM submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to an RFI regarding the Medicare $2 Drug List Model. SGIM advised CMS to be objective, transparent, and consider evidence and guidance-based treatments that are most effective for Medicare beneficiaries when developing the drug list. SGIM also recommended that CMS make the drug list more accessible through local community engagement, and to make sure the program does not de-incentivize other discount drug programs.

SGIM Comments on Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Services (IPPS) for Acute Care Hospitals – June 2023

SGIM provided comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and expressed strong support for CMS’ proposal to allow medical students to train in rural areas (with sustainable support provided for such training); revise the hospital value-based purchasing program to add a health equity adjustment; and make changes to the severity of level designations for the definition of homelessness.  Additionally, the Society provided comments on questions in the RFI regarding Safety Net Hospitals.

SGIM Support Letter for the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) – July 2023

SGIM endorsed a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Labor HHS subcommittee as part of a coalition calling for support for an increase in funding for the USPSTF as part of the Labor HHS FY24 appropriations bill. This letter also calls for the USPSTF to keep pace with medical innovation and emerging/innovative medical technologies that can further public health for all Americans.

Support of CMS Proposal to Implement G2211 in the CY24 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule – September 2023

SGIM provided comments on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) CY24 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). Comments from the Society centered around the Conversion Factor for 2024; E/M Visits; Soliciting Public Comment on Strategies for Updates to Practice Expense Data Collection and Methodology; Payment for Medicare Telehealth Services; and Services Addressing Health-Related Social Needs. SGIM also endorsed a coalition letter on this issue, brought forward by the 66 organizational members of the Primary Care Collaborative.

SGIM Comments on Addressing Chronic Disparities in Access to Health Care in Rural and Underserved Communities – October 2023

SGIM comments expressed concern about primary care workforce shortages and the need for broad policy change to ensure there is an adequate supply of primary care physicians to address the needs facing our population. The Society recommended development of a payment structure for GME that supports primary care; support of HRSA workforce and training programs like Teaching Health Center GME (THCGME) and Title VII; inflationary adjustments to the Medicare Physician Fee Structure (MPFS); and to adequately define and value non-procedural E/M services.

SGIM Letter to Congress to Avert Physician Pay Cuts – December 2023

SGIM’s letter to House and Senate leadership urged Congress to take action to prevent physician payment cuts of 3.37% beginning on January 1, 2024, and to develop more comprehensive reforms to support primary care and stabilize the Medicare physician payment system.