Physician Fee Schedule Rates Recalculated; Rural Wage Index Recommendation from OIG

11 Jan Physician Fee Schedule Rates Recalculated; Rural Wage Index Recommendation from OIG

Following an outcry from the physician community, Congress modified the CY2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule payments to cover for the cuts that specialists faced as well as sequestration implementation. CMS put out a notice that they have update the payment system to reflect the 3.75 percent increase and suspended the 2 percent payment adjustment (sequestration) through March 31, 2021 among other policies. Therefore, CMS has recalculated the MPFS payment rates and conversion factor to reflect these changes. The revised MPFS conversion factor for CY 2021 is 34.8931. The revised payment rates are available in the Downloads section of the CY 2021 Physician Fee Schedule final rule webpage, click here.

• HHS Inspector General: CMS could improve its area wage index adjustment to more specifically target rural hospitals and providers operating at low or negative margins, click here.