July 14, 2022
On July 7, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule for the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The MPFS sets physician reimbursement under Medicare and serves as the basis of payment schedules used by most public and private payers.
Under the proposed rule, CMS would decrease the MPFS conversion factor (CF) by 4.5%, from $34.61 to $33.08. Most of the decrease (3 percentage points) is attributed to the expiration of temporary, COVID-19-related CF increases passed by Congress in 2021 (see p. 769) and 2022 (see p. 3). The rest of the decrease (1.5 percentage points) is attributed to an interplay of changes to evaluation and management (E/M) codes (as recommended by the AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee) and a statutory budget neutrality requirement.
The MMA recognizes that cuts to physician reimbursement are inconsistent with inflating practice costs and commits to lobbying, alongside the AMA, for more appropriate rates. The MMA will continue to inform its members as additional analyses of this 2,000-page proposed rule are conducted and as lobbying strategies to counter its cuts are developed.
If you have any questions related to the proposed rule or any payment-related issues, please contact Adrian Uphoff, policy analyst.
August 20, 2026
A physician and Olympian will give an inspirational address as part of this year's Empowering Physicians event on Friday, September 25, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
August 20, 2026
Minnesota received some disturbing news this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as data shows that for the 2025-2026 school year, vaccination rates decreased and non-medical exemptions increased.
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On August 11, a federal appellate court sided with the Texas Medical Association (TMA) argument that the way the No Surprises Act’s qualifying payment amount (QPA) is calculated has historically favored payers in arbitration.