CMS Issues CY 2022 Proposed Rules for Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MFPS). These proposed rules cover physician services furnished to beneficiaries on or after January 1, 2022. Highlights are described below:
- CMS proposed Conversion Factor (CF) of $33.5848, which includes reversal of the 3.75 percent increase signed into law at end of 2020 and a budget neutrality factor of -0.14 percent.
- Based on the proposed changes for the RVUs, CMS estimates combined payment impact for cardiac surgery is -1 percent; for interventional radiology is -9 percent; and for vascular surgery is -8 percent.
- There are no proposed CY 2022 updates for malpractice RVUs or geographic practice cost indices.
- CMS proposed clarifications/revisions for evaluation and management (E/M) include split or shared visits; new and established patient, and initial and subsequent visits; payment for teaching physician services; and telehealth and communication technology-based services.
- CMS proposed allowance for PAs to bill for services directly to Medicare and the reimbursement for those services to be paid directly to the PA, similar to Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs).
The complete MPFS proposed rule summary can be found on the GORE Coding Resource Center website under “Education – CMS Rules Updates”: https://gore.rccsclients.com/education/rules-updates/.
