The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) aims to further advance its overall value-based care strategy with the finalized 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) – adding ways for medically complex, high-cost beneficiaries like those in nursing homes to participate in Medicare Shared Savings Programs (MSSPs). Additionally, CMS therapy assistants can be more generally […]
On May 10, 2023, HHS announced that many telehealth and teleprescribing flexibilities will remain in place after the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023. Congress extended many telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program through December 31, 2024, via the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and […]
As the nation’s largest health care payer, responsible for more than one in five dollars spent on health care within the United States, Medicare plays a key role in transitioning the health care system away from fee-for-service, which incentivizes quantity of care, and towards value-based care, which incentivizes high-quality care and smarter spending. The passage […]
Physician payment cuts are coming, significant changes to E/M services are finalized, and key reporting revisions are hitting telehealth and audio-only services, according to the final 2023 Medicare physician fee schedule. Proposed payment cuts that drew vocal criticism from physician advocacy groups will move forward as planned, as CMS announced a 4.5% reduction to the 2023 Medicare Part B […]
WASHINGTON — Physician groups expressed concerns over what one group called a “substantial” decrease in Medicare fee-for-service physician payments under a final rule for 2023 issued Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule includes a 4.5% decrease in the conversion factor — the multiplier that Medicare applies to […]
On November 01, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Calendar Year (CY) 2023 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule that includes changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) to advance CMS’ overall value-based care strategy of growth, alignment, and equity. Through the changes we finalized, we seek […]
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is expanding access to behavioral health care, cancer screening coverage, and dental care. The Calendar Year 2023 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule announced today also promotes innovation and coordinated care in the Medicare program through […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized changes in CMS’s annual Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed rule to significantly expand access to behavioral health services and moves the health system closer to achieving equitable outcomes through high quality, affordable, person-centered care. These changes will ensure CMS continues to deliver on our goals […]
Despite bad news on the fee cut, some provisions on ACOs have doctors cheering by Joyce Frieden, Washington Editor, MedPage July 15, 2022 WASHINGTON — Physician group responses to the proposed 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule ranged from disappointment over the proposed 4.4% overall payment cut to praise for many of the provisions related to accountable […]
The CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule would follow through on several cuts to physician reimbursement while aiming to bolster behavioral and ACO care. By Jacqueline LaPointe July 11, 2022 – CMS has proposed a decrease to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor, which would lead to significant cuts to physician reimbursement next year. The federal agency […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and Quality Payment Program (QPP) proposed rule on July 13. This rule includes updates to payment rates for physicians and other health care professionals, expands the use of telehealth, clarifies evaluation and management (E/M) policies, proposes policies for the 2022 […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the United States, states, payers, and providers are looking for ways to expand access to telehealth services. Telehealth is an essential tool in ensuring patients are able to access the healthcare services they need in as safe a manner as possible. In order to provide our clients with quick and […]
CMS also reported that ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program saved more under new Pathway to Success tracks and if they assumed downside risk. By Jacqueline LaPointe September 15, 2020 – Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) generated $1.19 billion in total net savings to Medicare in 2019, representing the third consecutive year for net program savings and […]
Among the changes announced this week include the expanded use of telehealth in Medicare, giving payment parity to hospital outpatient surgery centers, simplifying evaluation and management codes, and changing performance measures for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Among a swath of proposed policy and payment changes announced this week by the Trump administration, CMS continued its […]
As part of ACOG’s ongoing advocacy efforts to ensure expanded access to telehealth services, we endorsed the Protecting Access to Post-COVID-19 Telehealth Act of 2020 H.R. (7663). This bill, endorsed by the House Telehealth Caucus with bipartisan support, would remove outdated Medicare restrictions on telehealth, and expand coverage after the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) ends. This ensures obstetrician-gynecologists […]