Community practices need to take immediate action
By ION
The final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) was released on Nov. 1, 2022, and unless Congress takes legislative action, community practices will be looking at significant impacts to their revenue beginning in January 2023.
What are the potential financial impacts?
- The 2023 Medicare PFS Conversion Factor is decreased $1.55 (approximately 4.48 percent from this past year) from $34.6062 to $33.0607.
- Practices already have seen the expiration of the three percent increase in the Conversion Factor after sequestration in 2022.
- There is the potential of four percent PAYGO cut due to legislation triggered by the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) in March 2021.
- Some specialties may also see a negative impact with RVU changes (see Table 148 in the 2023 Final Rule for MPFS) – which are not included in the Conversion Factor decrease. CMS also provided more granular data that separates specialty-specific impacts by site of service (Table 149).
What do I need to do to protect my practice?
In early November, a bipartisan group of 46 U.S. Senators sent a letter to Senate leadership voicing the urgent need to address Medicare payment reductions to providers before the beginning of 2023. To make your voice heard, communicate with your U.S. Representative on the need to cosponsor and pass H.R. 8800 to ensure more equitable Medicare reimbursement.
Practices are urged to immediately contact their Congressional legislators and provide information to staff and patients to do the same. The cuts may hamper the ability of physicians to provide highly specialized community-based care – creating issues for ease of access to quality care.
You can find the contact information for members of Congress at: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member.
