July 8, 2022

On July 7, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule regarding policy changes for payments under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), effective on or after January 1, 2023. 

With (a) the budget neutrality adjustments, (b) the required statutory update to the conversion factor (CF) for 2023 of zero percent, and (c) the expiration of the three percent increase in PFS payments for 2022, the proposed PFS CF for 2023 is $33.08.  This represents a decrease of $1.53 to the 2022 PFS CF of $34.61, or a reduction of 4.4 percent.

The anesthesia CF for 2023 is set in the proposed rule at $20.71.  This is a drop from the current year’s anesthesia CF of $21.56, reflecting a four percent decrease in reimbursement for anesthesia services in the upcoming year.

We will provide additional details from the proposed rule to our readers in upcoming alerts this month.  In the meantime, you have the ability to make your opinions heard through the proposed rule commenting process, as well as through your state and national medical societies. 

With best wishes, 

Tony Mira
President and CEO