For Press

FAIRFAX, Va. (Nov. 1, 2024)—The Society of Interventional Radiology issued the following statement from SIR President Robert J. Lewandowski, MD, FSIR, on the final 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule released today. 

Unless Congress acts soon, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ cut to interventional radiology (IR) services will make it challenging for interventional radiologists to deliver care to patients who need IR services in 2025 and beyond. Despite rising practice costs, CMS continues to cut physician reimbursement, denying the reality of the burdens under which our healthcare system operates.  

Given the immediate need to halt the devastating cuts set forth in the rule, we urge Congress to act swiftly to pass the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2024 (H.R. 10073), which will eliminate the 2.8% cut to the conversion factor and provide a modest inflationary update for 2025. 

At the same time, SIR will continue to work with other healthcare organizations and members of Congress to find a long-term solution to this annual ordeal and ask that Congress also pass the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 2474), which would establish an annual cost of living increase for physicians tied to the Medicare Economic Index. We think this is an equitable solution as physicians face increasing practice expenses and growing patient needs in the face of ongoing efforts to decrease reimbursements.