Compliance Today (March 2021)

On January 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Learning Network released the following physician fee schedule update:^[1]

On December 27, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 modified the Calendar Year (CY) 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS):

• Provided a 3.75% increase in MPFS payments for CY 2021

• Suspended the 2% payment adjustment (sequestration) through March 31, 2021

• Reinstated the 1.0 floor on the work Geographic Practice Cost Index through CY 2023

• Delayed implementation of the inherent complexity add-on code for evaluation and management services (G2211) until CY 2024

CMS has recalculated the MPFS payment rates and conversion factor to reflect these changes. The revised MPFS conversion factor for CY 2021 is 34.8931. The revised payment rates are available in the Downloads section of the CY 2021 Physician Fee Schedule final rule (CMS-1734-F) webpage.

1 “Physician Fee Schedule,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, last modified January 7, 2021, http://go.cms.gov/3p2CoeD.

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