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- Senate Committee Moves Bill Forward to Lessen Cut to the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
On November 8, the Senate Finance Committee voted to approve of a legislative package with provisions on physician pay, mental health, and drug pricing out of committee. In the package, senators supported mitigating cuts to the 2024 physician fee schedule conversion factor, partially extend Medicare’s Alternative Payment Model (APM) bonus beyond 2023 and provide a one-year delay in Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule cuts and reporting requirements. The CAP has advocated for these specific provisions and supported the committee’s actions to protect the value of pathology and other physician services.
Among the provisions included in the Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders Act were:
- Legislative language to replace the current increase of 1.25% for the 2024 Medicare fee schedule with a 2.5% increase in 2024.
- A provision for a 1.75% APM Incentive Payment for qualifying participants for payment year 2026 (based on performance year 2024). This payment is half of the 3.5% incentive payment that these models are getting this year.
- A provision to limit payment reductions of up to 15% in the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule until January 1, 2025, by delaying the reporting and collecting of private insurance payments for clinical laboratory services through December 31, 2024, and by extending the zero-percent cap on payment reductions through 2024.
Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) said: “Next year, the Finance Committee will take a deeper look at Medicare physician payment, as several provisions in current law have to be re-examined.” Sen. John Thune (R-SD), who also sits on the committee said: “Instead of Congress making payment adjustments every year, it's time we address the underlying issues and make long-term reforms of this physician fee schedule to ensure there is stability for physicians and the Medicare program for the future.”