President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, which will overhaul Medicaid, Medicare and other healthcare programs.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next decade.
By 2034, the number of uninsured individuals could increase by nearly 12 million due to spending cuts to Medicaid.
Adam Bruggeman, MD, chair of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Advocacy Council, provided the following statement about the legislation to Becker’s:
“AAOS worked tirelessly with our champions on Capitol Hill and in musculoskeletal care to elevate the concerns of orthopaedic surgeons and secure the inclusion of a Medicare physician payment provision in the final budget. Although this provision was initially excluded from the Senate bill, AAOS, AANS, CNS, and ASA led a coalition of 75 healthcare organizations in sending a letter that encouraged lawmakers to address the broken Medicare physician payment system.
“While we celebrate this step toward stabilizing the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, we also recognize that the bill includes Medicaid and student loan changes of concern to our membership. As the implementation of the bill begins over the coming months, we will continue to monitor the impacts on this legislation on our members and engage with lawmakers on future legislative opportunities to improve patients’ access to high quality musculoskeletal care.”
