Medicare physician fee schedule redux

In a previous blog, I posted about the proposed rule on the 2013 Medicare physician fee schedule. I subsequently received questions regarding whether or not the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) had any involvement in the creation of the proposed 2013 fee schedule and what impact the fee schedule might have on family physicians. To the best of my knowledge, AAFP was not directly involved in the creation of the proposed 2013 Medicare physician fee schedule. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) essentially reserves sole responsibility for its creation.

AAFP advocates with CMS throughout the year on elements of the physician fee schedule, and the results of that advocacy can be seen in CMS's estimate of the proposed rule's impact on family medicine. Specifically, CMS estimates that family physicians will experience approximately a 7 percent increase in Medicare allowed charges in 2013, based on what is in the proposed rule (see page 12 of the AAFP's summary of the proposed rule). That percentage is higher than any other specialty listed. So, although AAFP can't take responsibility for creating the proposed rule, it can certainly take some credit for the estimated positive impact on family physicians.

AAFP is preparing a response to the proposed rule in advance of the Sep. 4, 2012, deadline for comments, and I look forward to sharing that with you in a future post. In the meantime, thanks for the questions, and please let me know if you have more.

Posted on Aug 16, 2012 by Kent Moore