Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed rule for the 2022 Medicare physician fee schedule. While American Medical Association (AMA) staff will analyze and develop a summary of the 1,700+ page proposal, we wanted to make you aware of a key issue. Notably, the 2022 Medicare conversion factor would be reduced by approximately 3.89% from $34.8931 to $33.5848. This is largely a result of the expiration of a 3.75% increase to the conversion factor at the end of calendar year 2021, as averted for 2021 by Congressional action. The AMA will strongly advocate that Congress avert this significant cut and extend the 3.75% increase for 2022. Please note that the impact table in the proposed rule does not seem to include the 3.75% reduction in the conversion factor.
The text of the proposed rule can be accessed at: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2021-14973.pdf, and several other links are below:
- CMS Press Release: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-proposes-physician-payment-rule-improve-health-equity-patient-access
- Physician Fee Schedule Fact Sheet: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/calendar-year-cy-2022-medicare-physician-fee-schedule-proposed-rule
- QPP Fact Sheet (please note this is different from the link in the press release, which was broken): https://qpp-cm-prod-content.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/1514/2022%20QPP%20Proposed%20Rule%20Resources.zip
