American College of Surgeons wants Congress to intervene in Medicare payments
Physician fee schedule payments fail to keep up with inflation and threaten patient access to critical treatments, ACS says.
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The lack of a pay increase in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' 2022 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule has prompted the American College of Surgeons to voice the need for Congressional intervention.
The proposed fee schedule maintains cuts to surgical care due to the expiration of a 3.75% payment increase provided by Congress for the 2021 calendar year. Due to budget neutrality, CMS cut the 2022 Medicare conversion factor by 3.75%.
The conversion factor is used to calculate reimbursement in Medicare's fee-for-service system. For 2022, the conversion factor is $33.58, a decrease of $1.31 from the 2021 rate of $34.89.
The American College of Surgeons argued that the cuts to surgical care contained within the proposed CMS fee schedule pose a threat to patient access and healthcare equity and called on Congress to stop annual reductions in patient care.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The ACS said updates to the conversion factor for calculating Medicare payments have failed to keep up with inflation.
Because of this failure, the ACS said, the conversion factor is only about half of what it would have been if it had been indexed to general inflation, as it had been prior to 1998.
"The proposed CMS rule further emphasizes the need for continued intervention by Congress to protect patient care," the ACS said by statement.
The ACS earlier this week released details outlining a standardized method for measuring and improving a hospital's quality infrastructure across all surgical departments. The organization's Quality Verification Program (ACS QVP) offers tools for hospitals to develop a standardized approach to surgical care to help reduce complications, minimize waste, and increase the value of surgical care for their patients.
THE LARGER TREND
The CY2022 proposed rule released on Tuesday contains a raft of measures targeting rising inequality in healthcare by expanding patient access to care, especially for underserved populations.
Included is expanded telehealth access for mental and behavioral health services.
CMS has also proposed higher performance thresholds for the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) under MACRA.
ON THE RECORD
"Our patients deserve a healthcare system that invests in surgical care. CMS is taking notable strides to improve health equity; however, this proposal would achieve the opposite by threatening patient access to critical treatments and procedures," ACS Executive Director David B. Hoyt said by statement. "The ACS stands ready to work with Congress toward a sustainable, long-term solution in the interest of all patients."
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