Family Physicians Respond to Final 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 3, 2025

Media Contact:   
Julie Hirschhorn   
AAFP Public Relations   
jhirschhorn@aafp.org    

“The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is pleased by several provisions in the 2026 Medicare physician fee schedule that strengthen the health care system and prioritize primary care. Medicare helps millions of Americans access ongoing, comprehensive care from family physicians, and these actions from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) bolster primary care, including: 

• Modernizing the inputs that determine how medical services are valued, so payments better reflect the actual cost of taking care of patients. 
• Recognizing gained efficiencies that occur over time when delivering certain services to create a fairer payment system for physicians.  
• Recognizing that running a small or independent medical practice can be expensive by making sure physicians get paid enough to cover their costs. 
• Making it more feasible for doctors to provide care at home by broadening the use of the G2211 add-on code. 
• Expanding the value of the Advanced Primary Care Management services by introducing optional add-on codes to support behavioral health integration services. 

These actions will move us closer to a health care system that puts patients and primary care first. 

We are also encouraged that CMS will be increasing the conversion factor for 2026 by 3.77% for qualifying advanced alternative payment model participants and 3.26% for all other physicians. These updates reflect CMS’ commitment to supporting primary care. However, most of the increases for 2026 are temporary adjustments attributable to H.R. 1, which will expire at the end of 2026. To sustain this progress, we urge Congress to take action to prevent another payment cliff, which would leave practices struggling to keep pace with inflation despite the promising direction set by CMS. 

The AAFP continues to urge Congress to work in a bipartisan fashion to establish an adequate annual inflationary adjustment, as well as reopen the federal government to ensure Medicare claims are processed on time. It’s a crucial step toward ensuring primary care practices can keep their doors open and serve patients.”  

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