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- In Case you Missed It: CMS Releases Proposed 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
On July 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule signaling an advocacy win for the payment of pathology technical component services. The agency will restore the proper rank order of the clinical labor rates for histotechnologists and laboratory technicians in 2023. The CAP’s advocacy will lead to more accurate payments for the technical component of pathology services in 2023 if proposals are finalized later this year.
Proposed Regulation Impact on Pathology Payment
The 2023 proposed regulation, estimates indicate the overall impact to pathology payments from 2022 to 2023 would decrease by one percent. Specifically, the proposed 2023 conversion factor used for the fee schedule’s payment formula is $ 33.0775, representing a 4.4% decrease from the 2022 conversation factor.
This 4.4% decrease accounts for the expiration of the 3% increase fee schedule payments for 2022 as required by the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act, and required budget neutrality adjustment to account for changes in relative value units. The CAP continues to aggressively lobby Congress to mitigate these cuts to pathologists for 2023.