Biden Signs Spending Bill That Reverses Part of 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Cut

On March 9, President Bidensigned into law theConsolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (HR 4366) to avert a partial government shutdown. The $460 billion spending package includes a 1.68% reduction to the 3.4% cut to theMedicare Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor that took effect on January 1.  (The conversion factor is an element in the equation that determines physician reimbursement for every payment code.)The new payment rate went into effect on March 9; it is not retroactive to January 1. APA continues to work for full repeal of the physician pay cut, which was automatically enacted to offset overall increases in Medicare payment.The impact of the remaining overall payment reduction on individual psychiatrists depends on what kinds of services they provide. The fee schedule, released last November, did include somegood news for psychiatrists; positive provisions included an increase in reimbursement for providing psychotherapy as an add-on to evaluation and management (E/M) services and the extension of some telepsychiatry provisions into 2024.The appropriations act also reauthorizes some substance use disorder treatment programs that were created under the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act.Other provisions in the appropriations act include the following:A requirement that the Department of Health and Human Services provide guidance to states on how they can improve behavioral ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: appropriations fee schedule Joe Biden legislation Medicaid Medicare reimbursement substance use disorders SUPPORT Act Source Type: research