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AMA on CMS physician fee schedule proposed rule: ‘Getting this policy right is vital’
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In its response to the physician fee schedule proposed rule released by CMS, the AMA noted “a mix of meritorious and flawed proposals that would affect payment and delivery of Medicare.”
“The annual physician fee schedule update is an opportunity for CMS to shape Medicare policy and ensure it is correctly focused on patient health,” Andrew W. Gurman, MD, AMA president, said in a press release for the organization. “Getting this policy right is vital, and the AMA will be submitting formal comments to CMS before the final version is released later this year. There is a lot of work today.”
The AMA applauded the proposal by CMS to expand coverage of the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program, which aims to help people with disabilities and seniors lower their risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes.
The AMA also commended work by the CMS with the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel and the AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee (RUC) to investigate “new ways to report and pay for high-value care collaboration and care management services.” According to the AMA press release, CMS has proposed paying physicians using existing codes for cases of complex chronic care management and adding new codes for psychiatric collaborative care management, cognitive impairment assessment and care plan services.
The AMA opposed a proposal calling for physicians to report patient care information every 10 minutes, remarking that it would be “extremely and unnecessarily burden, not only to surgeons but to all physicians who deliver the more than 4,000 services subject to this massive proposal.”
In addition, the AMA disapproved of a plan that would eliminate a physician payment increase detailed in the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). That money would be re-allocated to fund a new proposal for patients with mobility impairments.
“Although the AMA supports efforts to improve access to care for patients with these and other impairments, there is no justification for funding the service with an across-the-board cut in payment rates,” the organization stated. “The proposal also raises program integrity questions and seems likely to increase out-of-pocket costs for patients with disabilities.”
According to the release, the AMA will issue a full comment letter to CMS in the coming months.