Pay Increase Likely for Medicare Physicians
Most recent news from Capitol Hill indicates that Congress will give
physicians a 1.5% pay increase for 2004 by passing it as part of the
final Medicare reform bill. CMS's projected 4.2% across-the-board
decrease in physician payment rates will be replaced by the
legislation, which goes into effect on January 1, 2004. As of November
18, inside sources reported that Medicare reform conferees agreed to
the pay raise as well as other physician related issues in marathon
sessions during the week of November 10.
"While AMDA's successful effort to halt the dramatic reductions to
the nursing home evaluation and management (E/M) codes was a feat in
itself," said AMDA Executive Director, Lorraine Tarnove, "the 1.5%
increase is welcome news. However, we must not rest on our laurels
until we obtain appropriate recognition for the value of services
performed by our members."
The CMS final rule did not contain the egregious pay cuts to the
nursing home codes, although AMDA has pledged to continue its efforts
to prevent future pay cuts through involvement in the annual Practice
Expense Advisory Committee (PEAC) code refinement process, working with
CMS staff, and through coalition building with other physician groups.
CMS proposed cuts for codes 99301, 99302, 99303, 99311, 99312, and
99313 in its Medicare proposed fee schedule rule last August. Not only
were they unprecedented in terms of their history for those particular
codes, but they also would have been the most severe cuts of any other
family of codes in the Medicare fee schedule for next year.
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