Ask your Senators to cosponsor S.5007 and continue asking your Representative to cosponsor H.R.8702 to protect Medicare payment rates for services provided by psychologists and other healthcare providers.

S.5007, introduced on December 10, 2020, by Senator John Boozman (R-AR), is virtually identical to H.R.8702, the “Holding Providers Harmless From Medicare Cuts During COVID-19 Act of 2020,” which now has 97 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. Both bills would institute additional payments, separate from the physician fee schedule, to essentially establish 2020 Medicare reimbursement rates as the floor for payments in both 2021 and 2022. Learn more about the impending Medicare reimbursement cuts and other Medicare changes included in the CMS final rule on the 2021 physician fee schedule here.

APA and many other provider organizations are pushing for the inclusion of the H.R. 8702/S.5007 language in year-end legislation enacted by Congress. We encourage psychologists to ask their Senators to cosponsor the new bill from Senator Boozman, and to continue asking their House members to cosponsor the House bill.

For more information, contact Scott Barstow with APA at sbarstow@apa.org.