Medicare Conversion factor are up but payouts are still down compared to last year.
Healthcare professionals will see a slight upward adjustment to their Medicare payments starting March 9 after President Biden signs the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2024. Really fortunately, although the 2024 CAA increases the conversion factor (CF) finalized for calendar year (CY) 2024, Medicare payments to physicians remain lower than in 2023.
Medicare Conversion Factor what is 2024?
The final Medicare conversion factor determines the amount of payment to physicians and other practitioners eligible to bill Medicare for medical services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. For CY 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pegged the CF at $32.74 in the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule, effective January 1. This number is based on CY 2023 CF without the 2.50% one-year payout increase provided by CAA, 2023 ($33.06) multiplied by the budget neutrality adjustment of -2.18 percent, 0.00 percent update and 1.25 percent payment increase, also provided in CAA, 2023 for CY 2024.
CY 2024, Final CF is 32 USD. The 74 is a decrease of $1.15 or -3.4% from the CY 2023 final CF of $33.89, according to the CMS fact sheet. How does
According to healthcare compliance firm PYA, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2024 will actually increase Medicare payments to healthcare providers by 2.93%. However, the CAA, 2024 provision of Part G—Miscellaneous Matters, Title I—Health and Human Services, Subtitle C—Medicare, Sec. 305 is only valid until the end of the year. Below are the conversion factors that CMS will use to calculate future Medicare payments: Original CF – $32.74 (for services provided between January 1 and January 8 3) Adjusted CF – $33.32 (for services provided between March 9 and December 31)
What else do the 2024 CAA provisions affect Medicare?
The Geography Practice Cost Index floor of 1.0 was also extended until December 31, 2024, and incentive payments to participate in the Quality Payment Program were also extended. “For performance year 2023, the bonus is equivalent to 3.5% of Medicare Part B payments for services provided by the individual,” according to PYA.“For performance year 2024, the bonus will be 1.8%.”
CAA, 2024 also expands many Medicare programs, including funding for community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, teaching medical centers that operate GME programs, Special programs for type 1 diabetes and Indians as well as national health security programs.
There are also provisions affecting hospitals and other public health programs such as Medicaid. However, nothing in the 2024 CAA addresses extending telemedicine flexibility beyond the end of the year.
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