AMA comments on 2026 Medicare Fee Schedule

The AMA cautioned that although the 2026 Medicare Fee Schedule includes a vital, one-time 2.5 percent update and critical telehealth provisions, other components of the rule may have unintended consequences for patients and private physician practices across the country.

In submitted comments (PDF) in September to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the AMA urged collaboration to preserve seniors’ access to health care and sustain physician practices.

“That physicians are not facing a reduction in reimbursements – as we have in the past – is a significant positive for 2026 and a win for patients’ access to care. Yet, this one-time correction does not keep up with increasing costs, and private practices across the country are expressing concern this rule would further put them at a disadvantage merely for treating patients at a hospital or ambulatory surgery center,” said AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, M.D. “As the new rule is implemented and its changes are felt, we will share with CMS the real-world impacts—data and details not always easily available to policymakers in Washington. This exchange and collaboration are vital to keeping practices open during a physician shortage.”

The pay update will help protect seniors’ access to care, and the AMA has recommended linking payment updates for physician practices to the actual costs of providing care, a position shared by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. The AMA has urged the Trump Administration to support any congressional action to enact inflation-based updates, such as the provision tied to the Medicare Economic Index, to prevent further erosion of physician practice stability.

The AMA also is pleased that for 2026 CMS is finalizing its proposals, long advocated by the AMA, to permanently lift the frequency limits on telehealth services provided to patients in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities and permanently allow virtual direct supervision for most services that require supervision. The AMA is also pleased that CMS agreed with AMA and other commenters to continue the policy currently in place allowing teaching physicians to provide virtual supervision to residents providing telehealth services in all training sites and not limit this policy only to rural areas.

The AMA noted that two CMS proposals (PDF) that were finalized in the new rule will directly undercut private practice viability. Specifically, the efficiency adjustment would reduce payment for more than 7,000 physician services—95 percent of all services provided by physicians. The AMA has proposed an alternative that strengthens primary care payment while improving the accuracy of time data used in payment determinations.

CMS also finalized a reduction in physician payment rates for services performed in facilities such as hospitals or ambulatory surgical centers. Because these cuts fail to reflect true resource costs incurred by physician practices in the facility setting, they risk reducing competition and encouraging consolidation, results that CMS itself has explicitly sought to avoid.

Together, as proposed, these policies were estimated to result in 37 percent of oncologists facing cuts between 10 and 20 percent. Also, 37 percent of obstetricians and gynecologists would face cuts. The AMA urges CMS to base policy changes on verifiable data, including results from the Physician Practice Information Survey, to ensure that payment adjustments reflect the true costs of delivering care.

“We’re concerned that, at a time of increasing consolidation in health care, this rule will make it harder for independent practices to remain viable parts of our health system. We look forward to working with CMS to address that concern, so Medicare patients can continue to see their physicians,” Mukkamala added.

The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care.  The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.