A broad coalition of 126 patient and provider groups – led by leading national organizations including the American College of Rheumatology – today sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) urging the agency not to move forward with a proposal that would significantly reduce Medicare reimbursements for evaluation and management (E/M) services provided by specialists, citing concerns that these time-intensive services – which include examinations, disease diagnosis and risk assessments, and care coordination – are already grossly under-compensated and that additional payment cuts would worsen workforce shortages in already strained specialties like rheumatology.