MGMA Government Affairs yesterday posted an alert regarding the 2010 CMS physician fee schedule. The alert includes the press release, which outlines some of CMS' proposals to decrease payments in some areas while increasing payments to primary care providers, and a fact sheet which discusses the 2010 PQRI updates. Unfortunately the 2010 fee schedule still follows the SGR, which has negatively impacted Medicare payments since 2002 though Congress has done "Band-Aid" patches since 2003.
We have seen the battle lines being drawn recently regarding healthcare reform, and we can only hope that a more comprehensive measure comes out before December 31, 2009.
Below is the alert from MGMA:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) just released the 2010 Medicare proposed physician fee schedule and a related press release and fact sheet. The regulation includes provisions that confirm a 21.5 percent reduction in 2010 Medicare physician payments unless Congress enacts legislation to reverse this cut. Long advocated for by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), the regulation also proposes to "remove physician-administered drugs from the definition of "physician services" for purposes of computing the physician update formula in anticipation of enactment of legislation to provide fundamental reforms to Medicare physician payments."
MGMA will analyze the regulation's impact on medical group practices, post this analysis online as a member benefit and send formal comments to the agency detailing Association concerns. Look for updates in MGMA Washington Connexion and on the MGMA Public Policy website as the Association reviews this 1128 page document.
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