In this edition:

• 📖 House urges block of reimbursement cut

• ⭐️ Medicare Advantage star ratings decline

• 🚓 Teva settles Kickback allegations

• ⬇️ IV fluids being imported amid shortage

• 👶 Lower preterm birth rates in states with higher social funding

• And more!

House urges block of reimbursement cut

Congressional leaders should take up legislation to block a planned 2.8% cut to physician reimbursement in the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

In a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the legislators said “Congress must pass a bill providing physicians and other clinicians with a payment update that takes into account the cost of actually delivering care to patients.”

The cut marks the fifth consecutive year that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a fee schedule that lowers payments to doctors and other clinicians, the letter said.