CMS to reduce physician fee conversion factor by more than 4%

Sun, 29 Dec 2002 18:36:48 -0800 (PST)

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AHA NEWS NOW

The Daily Report for Health Care Executives

www.ahanews.com

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Friday, December 20, 2002

1) CMS to reduce physician fee conversion factor by more than 4%

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today announced a final rule that will update physician payment rates under the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2003. Under the final rule, the physician fee conversion factor will be reduced by 4.4%, beginning March 1, 2003, although total physician spending will increase by 2% in 2003. CMS said Medicare is expected to pay $44.9 billion to over 750,000 physicians and other practitioners in 2003. CMS Administrator Tom Scully said in a press statement that the agency, "has done everything it can to shore up physician payments for 2003, but only Congress has the authority to fix the formula." The final rule, which will be published in the December 31 Federal Register, will be effective on March 1, 2003. Services provided on or after January 1 and before March 1 will be paid under the 2002 fee schedule, CMS said. The AHA is leading an effort in which hospital and physician leaders across the country are jointly signing a letter u!
rging Congress to take immediate action on payment relief for all providers. View it at http://www.aha.org.

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2) House letter calls on leaders to support provider payment relief Six key members of the House Ways and Means and Commerce committees are circulating a "dear colleague" letter calling on House leaders to take immediate action on Medicare provider payments when Congress returns to Washington in January. The letter, originated by Reps. Dave Camp, R-MI, Mary Bono, R-CA, Earl Pomeroy, D-ND, Ben Cardin, D-MD, Frank Pallone Jr., D-NJ, and John Shimkus, R-IL, urges House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, to support quick legislative action "to stabilize the Medicare program for the millions of seniors who rely on it for their health care needs." AHA and a broad coalition of provider organizations strongly support the letter. They are, besides AHA, the American Association of Health Plans, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Health Care Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, College of American Pathologists, Federation o!
f American Hospitals, and National Association for Home Care.

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AHA News is a registered trademark of the American Hospital Association. The opinions expressed in AHA News Now are not necessarily those of the American Hospital Association.

Brian Potts 
Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service 
MS-IV, UC Irvine 
MD/MBA candidate 
pottsbri@yahoo.com

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<P>AHA NEWS NOW</P>
<P>The Daily Report for Health Care Executives</P>
<P></FONT><A href="http://us.f207.mail.yahoo.com/ym/www.ahanews.com"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>www.ahanews.com</U></FONT></A></P><FONT size=2>
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<P>Friday, December 20, 2002</P>
<P>1) CMS to reduce physician fee conversion factor by more than 4%</P>
<P>The Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services today announced a final rule that will update physician payment rates under the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2003. Under the final rule, the physician fee conversion factor will be reduced by 4.4%, beginning March 1, 2003, although total physician spending will increase by 2% in 2003. CMS said Medicare is expected to pay $44.9 billion to over 750,000 physicians and other practitioners in 2003. CMS Administrator Tom Scully said in a press statement that the agency, "has done everything it can to shore up physician payments for 2003, but only Congress has the authority to fix the formula." The final rule, which will be published in the December 31 Federal Register, will be effective on March 1, 2003. Services provided on or after January 1 and before March 1 will be paid under the 2002 fee schedule, CMS said. The AHA is leading an effort in which hospital and physician leaders across the country are jointly signing a l!
etter urging Congress to take immediate action on payment relief for all providers. View it at </FONT><A href="http://www.aha.org/"><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>http://www.aha.org</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2>.</P>
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<P>2) House letter calls on leaders to support provider payment relief Six key members of the House Ways and Means and Commerce committees are circulating a "dear colleague" letter calling on House leaders to take immediate action on Medicare provider payments when Congress returns to Washington in January. The letter, originated by Reps. Dave Camp, R-MI, Mary Bono, R-CA, Earl Pomeroy, D-ND, Ben Cardin, D-MD, Frank Pallone Jr., D-NJ, and John Shimkus, R-IL, urges House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, to support quick legislative action "to stabilize the Medicare program for the millions of seniors who rely on it for their health care needs." AHA and a broad coalition of provider organizations strongly support the letter. They are, besides AHA, the American Association of Health Plans, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Health Care Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, College of American Pathologists, Federatio!
n of American Hospitals, and National Association for Home Care.</P>
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<P>Copyright 2002 by the American Hospital Association. All rights reserved. For republication rights, contact Craig Webb.</P>
<P>AHA News is a registered trademark of the American Hospital Association. The opinions expressed in AHA News Now are not necessarily those of the American Hospital Association.</P></FONT><BR><BR><STRONG>Brian Potts <BR>Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service</STRONG> <BR>MS-IV, UC Irvine <BR>MD/MBA candidate <BR>pottsbri@yahoo.com<p><br><hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
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