News: New 2024 CMS proposal includes almost 3.4% cut in Medicare physician fees

As part of the calendar year (CY) 2024 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule and other Medicare Part B issues, CMS has proposed a nearly 3.4% cut to the conversion factor to the schedule. In response, many physician groups have expressed concern, Medpage Today reported.

Medicare applies the conversion factor to relative value units to calculate reimbursement for certain services and procedures in the fee-for-service system, and the proposed conversion factor of $32.74 in 2024 would mean a 3.4% cut from 2023’s $33.88 rate.

“While the ACR [American College of Rheumatology] appreciates CMS' continued recognition of the value of complex care provided by rheumatologists and other cognitive care specialists [...] we are gravely concerned that the proposed rule's physician payment cuts contained in CMS' conversion factor would add to physicians' uncertainty about their continued ability to provide the highest quality of care to Medicare patients,” said Douglas White, MD, PhD, president of the ACR, in a statement.

“[This cut] is a critical reminder that patients and physicians desperately need Congress to develop a permanent solution that addresses the financial instability and threatens access to care,” said Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, president of the American Medical Association, in a statement. “When adjusted for inflation, Medicare physician payment already has effectively declined 26% from 2001 to 2023 before additional inflation and these cuts are factored in. Physicians are one of the only providers without an automatic inflationary increase [...] Physicians need relief from this unsustainable journey.”

The effects of the fee schedule vary by specialty; interventional radiology’s fees are estimated to decrease by 4%, and fees for nuclear medicine, vascular surgery, and diagnostic radiology, will decrease by 3%. On the other hand, the total allowed charges for family practice and endocrinology are estimated to increase by 3%, and other specialties including social workers, clinical psychologists, general practitioners, rheumatologists, and nurse practitioners should see a 2% increase.

Editor’s note: To read MedPage Today’s coverage of this story, click here. To read the CMS proposed rule fact sheet, click here.