Dr. Joe Saad
During the College of American Pathologist’s (CAP) August 12 webinar on the proposed 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program, CAP leaders reviewed key reimbursement and quality payment proposals affecting pathologists, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) request for comment on whether the surgical pathology code family may be overvalued.
A top advocacy priority: Protecting the surgical pathology code family remains one of the CAP’s highest advocacy priorities. During the webinar, CAP leaders outlined a coordinated strategy that includes detailed comments to CMS, direct engagement with policymakers and collaboration with specialty societies.
One of the most common questions: What should pathologists do?
A. Joe Saad, MD, CPE, FCAP, chair of the CAP’s Council on Government and Professional Affairs, emphasized that the CAP is coordinating the profession’s response and asked members not to submit individual comments to CMS at this time.
He noted that as the issue progresses, members may be asked to support congressional outreach efforts and respond to future surveys if the code family moves through the RUC process.
“We are preparing our comment letter to CMS. It will be an extensive letter.
“We’re asking you not to reach out individually to CMS at this point. We’ll be working within CAP and with other organizations to coordinate our letters to CMS on this issue.
“If you have any stories, issues, or data, please reach out to the CAP and we’ll incorporate them into the letter, if appropriate. As this progresses, we may ask you to reach out individually to Congress.
“Our primary goal is for CMS not to move forward with any unilateral changes in 2027 and to allow the RUC process to take its course.”
What’s next: CMS comments are due September 14. The CAP will continue preparing its response, engaging CMS and policymakers, and sharing opportunities for members to participate as the issue progresses this fall.