Congress Must Act To Fortify Health Care System And Protect Access To Care
By Admin | November 18, 2020
WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The final 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) issued today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) failed to provide relief from a significant shift in physician and non-physician payments expected to take effect on January 1, 2021. Thousands of comments submitted by providers, patients, and Members of Congress highlighted the importance of mitigating payment cuts associated with budget neutrality requirements triggered by higher payment and modified reporting requirements for evaluation and management (E/M) services. Due to CMS's unresponsiveness to address these concerns, organizations representing more than 1 million physicians and nonphysician health care providers across the United States urge Congress to include legislation in any year-end package to prevent these arbitrary Medicare cuts in order to protect patient access to medically necessary services.
In late 2019, CMS announced new Medicare payment policies for office and outpatient visits — also known as E/M services — billed by physicians and some nonphysician providers. These new payment policies will result in cuts of up to 10 percent or more for certain specialties. Due to Medicare's budget-neutrality requirements, physician, nonphysician, and institutional providers billing under the PFS will experience substantial payment reductions to offset payment increases to physicians and other providers who primarily deliver office-based services. These cuts will be devastating to an already struggling...(More)
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