Press Release

Today, Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06), joined the other Democratic doctors in the House of Representatives—Herb Conaway Jr. (NJ-03), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), and Kim Schrier (WA-08)—in releasing the following statement after Congressional Republicans passed a continuing resolution that did not include a fix for the physician fee schedule cuts that went into effect at the beginning of the year:

“The Trump Administration and Republican leadership has once again turned its back on physicians and patients across the country. As Democratic physicians in Congress, we are disappointed to see that the GOP’s partisan funding bill failed to address physician fee schedule cuts that went into effect on January 1, 2025. 

“Despite bipartisan support for a deal that averted these cuts in December, Republican leadership caved to Elon Musk and killed the deal. Now the Republican majority has excluded any physician payment relief for the second time, and patients will pay the price. These reimbursement cuts will only worsen the physician workforce shortage, increase consolidation in the health care industry, close rural practices, and further drive up costs for seniors. 

“We won’t stop working to provide a bipartisan fix to this issue, and we remain deeply concerned about the continued attacks we’re seeing on health care, with House Republicans attempting to slash Medicaid funding by $880 billion and posing a devastating threat to the health care coverage that 80 million Americans across the country rely on.

“Physicians and patients need immediate relief and long-term, sustainable reform to Medicare reimbursement. They deserve better than empty promises and another failed deal. We stand ready to work with our colleagues in a bipartisan fashion to substantively address this issue and provide meaningful relief to physicians and the patients they care for.”