VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
- The Honorable Tom Cole
Chair
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515 - The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chair Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro:
On behalf of the undersigned physician organizations, which are committed to delivering high-quality, evidence-based care to Medicare beneficiaries, we write to commend you and your colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee for unanimously adopting an amendment that would halt funding for implementation of the Medicare Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model in the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations legislation.1
This action appropriately pauses the rollout of WISeR, creating necessary time to address fundamental concerns with the model’s design and implementation. Physicians have long faced challenges with prior authorization in Medicare Advantage, including delayed care, administrative burden, and adverse impacts on patient outcomes. Introducing prior authorization into Medicare Fee-for-Service demands careful planning and robust safeguards to prevent repeating these well-documented problems. Moreover, physician organizations and other frontline stakeholders were not engaged during the development of this model, despite being directly impacted by its requirements.
Click here to view the full Neurosurgery Joins Physician Coalition Applauding House Vote to Block Funding for the WISeR Model
