July 1, 2025
Contact: Erin Hemlin, APG Vice President of Communications
ehemlin@apg.org; Tel: (202) 770-1901
WASHINGTON — The following statement may be attributed to Susan Dentzer, President and Chief Executive Officer, America’s Physician Groups:
“America’s Physician Groups greatly regrets passage of the Senate reconciliation bill adopted today and is concerned that it will be accepted without major modifications by the House of Representatives and ultimately signed into law by President Trump. The bill is a major setback for U.S. health and health policy for the following seven key reasons:
- The Medicaid cuts in the bill are substantially greater than those in the House bill passed in May and will cause disenrollment and loss of coverage for millions of people, with serious negative consequences for them as well as for physician groups, hospitals, and the entire stressed U.S. health care system. The $50 billion fund to assist rural hospitals will not be sufficient over time to ameliorate the damage and will do nothing to help the large number of more urban-based health care providers caring for the vast majority of Medicaid enrollees who stand to lose coverage.
- The failure to extend enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace coverage, and the other damaging ACA marketplace changes in the package, will also cause major losses in coverage and further harm.
- The provision banning Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding for non-abortion-related family planning and reproductive health care services will disenfranchise many low-income Americans from accessing an important source of their health care.
- The projected cuts in SNAP of roughly 20 percent and loss of food assistance will imperil the ability of millions to obtain healthful food and lead to adverse health effects down the road.
- The fact that all these cuts in health care and social programs are being used to finance tax cuts that will primarily benefit the highest income taxpayers is inexcusable. The resulting income transfer from poor to rich Americans will only further widen disparities in health that are related to the all-important impact of incomes on health.
- The modest change in the Medicare physician fee schedule for one year only – 2026 – is welcome, but it does little to address the nearly 3 percent cut in the fee schedule for 2025 and omits a badly needed regular update to the fee schedule to adjust it for a portion of practice cost inflation. The result will be ongoing declines in inflation-adjusted payments to clinicians that the Medicare trustees have said repeatedly will cause access issues for Medicare beneficiaries over time.
- The additional fact that the entire package will drive up federal budget deficits and add a projected nearly $4 trillion to the nation’s debt may not only necessitate cuts in Medicare due to sequestration but will also impair the nation’s ability to meet its other obligations to its people.
“APG is shocked that so many of the nation’s lawmakers would voluntarily inflict so much damage on the citizenry and the health sector. The roughly 1 in 4 U.S. patients whom our physicians serve deserved a far better deal.”
About America’s Physician Groups
APG’s approximately 340 physician groups comprise nearly 200,00 physicians and other clinicians providing care to nearly 90 million patients, including about 1 in 3 Americans and 1 in 3 Medicare Advantage enrollees. APG’s motto, ‘Taking Responsibility for America’s Health,’ represents our members’ commitment to clinically integrated, coordinated, value-based health care in which physician groups are accountable for the costs and quality of patient care. Visit us at www.apg.org.
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