FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 15, 2026
Media Contact:
Samantha Tirado
Director of Policy Communications
stirado@mgma.org
MGMA Statement on the Introduction of the Patients First Act
Anders Gilberg
Senior Vice President, Government Affairs
Medical Group Management Association
"Ten years after MACRA, refinements are needed to address the lack of inflationary update under the Medicare physician fee schedule and ongoing threat of cuts to reimbursement triggered by antiquated budget neutrality rules. We appreciate the diligent and collaborative work of the Republican and Democratic Doctors Caucuses to introduce the Patients First Act, which would provide annual positive updates tied to inflation for Part B physician payment. This is a critical first step towards ensuring medical groups can continue affording to provide quality care to seniors. Together, the legislation's provisions related to payment, quality reporting, value-based care, and budget neutrality lay a solid foundation for addressing the underlying issues that result in financial and administrative burdens. We look forward to working with the Doctors Caucuses to refine this legislation. Complimentary to this effort to resolve important payment and quality issues, Congress must intervene to ensure practices don't receive a Medicare reimbursement cut for 2027. Near term stability is as important as longer-term reforms."
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About MGMA
Founded in 1926, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is the nation's largest association focused on the business of medical practice management. MGMA consists of 15,000 group medical practices ranging from small private medical practices to large national health systems representing more than 350,000 physicians. MGMA helps nearly 60,000 medical practice leaders and the healthcare community solve the business challenges of running practices so that they can focus on providing outstanding patient care. Specifically, MGMA helps its members innovate and improve profitability and financial sustainability, and it provides the gold standard on industry benchmarks such as physician compensation. The association also advocates extensively on its members' behalf on national regulatory and policy issues.
