Published: 4/8/2022

Medicare sequestration cuts, which were rolled back at the beginning of the year to offset a reduction in physician payments while the COVID public health emergency continues, have partially resumed as of April 1.

Since 2013, Medicare has been subject to an automatic annual “sequestration” cut of 2% as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 which has been temporarily suspended since the start of the COVID-19 PHE.

In late 2021, Congress passed the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act which phased the sequester back into effect in 2022 with the following timeline:

• 0% applied between January 1^st – March 31^st
• -1% applied between April 1^st – June 31^st
• -2% applied beginning July 1^st

Several advocacy groups have pressured Congress to take action to pass further relief from these sequester cuts, which return to full effect this summer, but those efforts have not been successful.

As always, ADVOCATE will keep you up to date on this and all issues impacting medical groups as they become available.

Kayley Jaquet

Manager, Regulatory Affairs