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Significant reduction proposed for Medicare payments in 2012
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A proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule calls for a 29.5% reduction in physician payments in 2012, according to a news release from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
CMS issued the proposed ruling on the fee schedule July 1. The payment cut would take effect Jan. 1, 2012, unless Congress intervenes.
Current law requires CMS to base annual fee schedule updates on the sustainable growth rate (SGR). However, CMS is looking to Congress to alter or eliminate the SGR, Donald M. Berwick, MD, CMS administrator, said in the release.
“This payment cut would have serious consequences and we cannot and will not allow it to happen,” Dr. Berwick said. “We need a permanent SGR fix to solve this problem once and for all. That’s why the President’s budget and his fiscal framework call for averting these cuts and why we are determined to pass and implement a permanent and sustainable fix.”
The ruling proposes quality and cost measures to be used in designating a new value-based modifier that would reward physicians for improving care quality and efficiency. The Affordable Care Act requires CMS to adjust payments to some physicians by Jan. 1, 2015, and all physicians by Jan. 1, 2017.
CMS accepted comment on the proposed ruling until Aug. 30. A final ruling is scheduled to be issued Nov. 1. – by Matt Hasson