President Barack Obama gave doctors a holiday gift of sorts at the end of the year when he signed the Pathway for SGR Reform Act, sparing physicians and other practitioners who treat Medicare patients from the 24 percent payment reduction previously slated to take effect the first of the year.
While Obama said he remains committed to a permanent solution to eliminating the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) reductions, the new law provides a 0.5 percent update for such services through March 31.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently revising the 2014 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) to reflect the new law's requirements as well as technical corrections identified since publication of the fee schedule final rule in November. The 2014 conversion factor is $35.8228. The MPFS conversion factor for calendar year 2103 is $34.0230.
CMS also reported that the existing 1.0 floor on the physician work geographic practice cost index is also extended through March 31. As with the physician payment update, this extension will be reflected in the revised 2014 MPFS.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that a permanent physician payment fix would cost $116.5 billion over 10 years. A permanent increase with 0.5 percent payment adjustments would increase that total by about $20 billion, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).
"A short-term 'doc fix' to buy time for a permanent replacement is positive step forward," the CRFB cautioned in a statement circulated prior to Obama signing the new law, "but lawmakers should work to ensure temporary fixes do not make a permanent fix more difficult."
Obama added that his administration would continue to work with Congress to achieve that goal.