CMS has proposed a new Medicare physician payment schedule for 2024, addressing topics from anesthesia conversion rates to merit-based payment systems.
If the payment schedule is finalized, new policies will go into effect beginning Jan. 1, 2024. The American Medical Association has identified five key provisions in the 2,000 page rule that could significantly impact Medicare physician payments.
1. The proposed rule would reduce the 2024 Medicare conversion factor by 3.36 percent, lowering it from $33.89 to $32.75. The anesthesia conversion factor would also be reduced by about 70 cents.
2. CMS is reducing the estimated utilization assumption of the new E/M add-on code, G2211, from 90 percent in 2021 to 54 percent in 2024.
3. CMS is postponing the implementation of Medicare economic index weights originally finalized for calendar year 2023. The delay is in response to the need for continued public comment.
4. CMS is increasing the performance threshold to avoid a penalty in the merit-based incentive payment system from 75 to 82 points. This change is estimated to increase the number of MIPS-eligible clinicians receiving penalties of up to -9 percent.
5. CMS is delaying mandatory electronic clinical quality measure adoption by Medicare Shared Savings Program participants, allowing participants to continue using the CMS web interface for reporting quality measures.