Surgical Care Coalition Launch

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Our health care system is under extraordinary pressure. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an uncertain financial future for surgeons—and this is before we even factor in the Medicare payments cuts that take effect in six months. The Society is committed to advocating for you during these challenging times.

To that end, The American Society of Breast Surgeons, along with 11 other surgical associations, are excited to announce the launch of the Surgical Care Coalition: www.surgicalcare.org

Our message is simple: Now is not the time for payment cuts to any health care providers.

While we have worked in concert with these other surgical groups in the past, we are now coming together as a unified force to address the pending CMS payment cuts. As a coalition, we are focused on getting Congress and the Administration to understand how these payment cuts will hurt patients and their care teams. These cuts threaten patients’ access to timely surgical care and will impact the quality of life for the people we care for every day.

Delayed surgeries have negatively impacted hospital finances and surgeons’ private practices—an important small business in many communities. We learned from you and more than 5,000 other surgeons that the pandemic and planned cuts could have serious consequences on your practices. Among the findings:

• 1 in 3 private practice surgeons are concerned they will have to shut down.

• 45% of surgeons have made a financial sacrifice by cutting their own pay or by paying employees despite falling revenues.

• 35% of surgeons suffered negative financial consequences due to COVID-19 such as taking on debt and laying off or furloughing employees.

Right now, we are focused on putting these issues on the nation’s agenda and stopping the payment cuts to surgeons. We are asking Congress to step in and ensure Medicare patients continue to have the best access—to the best care—when they need it and where they need it.

You will be hearing from us and the Surgical Care Coalition a lot more as January 1 approaches, because we believe these payment cuts are the top issue facing us and our patients right now.

Follow the coalition on Twitter and LinkedIn, and use your voice to oppose the Medicare payment cuts to protect your patients!

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