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AAO: Medicare fee schedule 'slams' physicians
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WASHINGTON — The Medicare fee schedule due to be released today by the government includes cuts in fees to all physicians. Organized medicine is lobbying Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to try to stop the cuts.
The conversion factor of $36.19 will mean a 5.4% cut in Medicare payments to all physicians, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). The AAO is among the organizations lobbying to change the formula used to update the conversion factor.
Of particular concern for the ophthalmic profession are fee cuts for services provided in facility settings, as opposed to in-office settings, according to an AAO statement.
Cataract surgery with IOL implantation has been reduced from $742.59 to $669.32. Almost all eye exams for new and established patients, if performed in a facility setting, will be reimbursed at lower rates in 2002 than in 2001. If performed in the physician's office, however, the fees have increased slightly for eye exams.
Revision of the iris, if performed in the physician's office, will be reimbursed at $358.01 in 2002, down slightly from $358.48 in 2001. The same procedure performed in a facility setting will be reimbursed at $311.68, up from $303.39 in 2001.
Treatment of retinal lesions will be reimbursed at $1,282.18, a significantly higher rate in 2002 than in 2001 ($1,049.80). Glaucoma surgery will also be reimbursed at a higher rate in 2002 than in 2001, with physicians now receiving $1,076.93 per procedure.
High-risk glaucoma screening will be reimbursed for the first time beginning in 2002, at $52.13 for in-office screening and at $24.98 for screenings done in a facility.
The complete fee schedule will be available shortly on the AAO’s Web site, www.aao.org, or at the federal affairs desk during the AAO’s annual meeting later this month.