In a positive sign in the long-term project of overhauling the Medicare physician payment system to make it more sustainable for doctors and the nation, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said he is “definitely interested” in examining the feasibility of such reform.

“I’m definitely interested, because I remember those ‘cliffs’ when I was in Congress,” Becerra said in a briefing with a group of health reporters, as quoted in MedPage Today, in reference to his days as a congressman and the annual ritual of voting to avert mandated Medicare physician pay cuts.

“We always had to deal with those, and you’d never want professionals … thinking that there’s another profession for them down the line because they’re just not making ends meet where they are,” Becerra said. “So we’d like to be supportive.”

My latest for the AMA. The whole shebang.

The AMA has assembled a toolkit to help physicians navigate the new independent-dispute resolution process under the No Surprises Act.

The new federal law, which took effect in January of this year, bars surprise billing for emergency care and some nonemergency care at in-network facilities. The law and implementing regulations have established a process to determine payment for physicians, health care organizations and others that includes the IDR process.

My latest for the AMA. The whole shebang.