August 10, 2026
CY 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule And Quality Payment Program Webinar – CAP
Transcript
Nancy Johnson
Welcome to Path News Network Daily Edition from the College of American Pathologists. I'm Nancy Johnson. It's Monday, August 10th. In today's top story, a major hit to pathologists' Medicare payments is looming. Find out what you need to know and do about the proposed 2027 Medicare physician fee schedule. And before we go, we'll preview a few of the stories we're reporting this week with expertise provided by CAP members. Up first, a proposed Medicare payment rule could reduce reimbursements for pathologists by about 2.5% next year. The CAP is working to stop this cut, but there could be more decreases on the horizon.
Dr. A. Joe Saad
This is the most consequential proposal for our fees in the past generation.
Nancy Johnson
Dr. Joe Saad chairs the CAP's Council on Government and Professional Affairs, and he says pathologists aren't the only ones who will get hit hard by this payment cut.
Dr. A. Joe Saad
I mean, you know, if we can't afford to provide a service, then patients ultimately suffer.
Nancy Johnson
The proposed fee schedule also includes potential changes to payments for surgical pathology services. Billing codes for basic pathology procedures would be revalued. And that hasn't happened in almost 15 years.
Dr. A. Joe Saad
The impact could be extremely significant because, you know, this is basically our bread and butter in surgical pathology.
Nancy Johnson
The codes being revalued include everything from routine biopsies to more complex cases like lumpectomies or a resection of the colon.
Dr. A. Joe Saad
It would depend on how much they decide to cut. And even a small cut, like if they cut one minute of time or five minutes of time that it takes us to perform that service, that results in a large amount of dollars that would potentially come out of the pathology services we provide. Dr. Saad believes the burden to all the health care community could be devastating. We have overhead, we have bills to pay, we have rent, we have technicians to pay, and a significant cut could impact our ability to continue to provide that high level of service. It would result in perhaps a longer turnaround time and patients having to wait a longer time to find out if they have cancer or they don't have cancer, and potentially it could result in less access to our services.
Nancy Johnson
The CAP is leading the specialty's response by submitting formal comments to CMS and pushing to protect pathology reimbursement. Pathologists can help by staying informed and sharing feedback with the CAP during the public comment period. To learn more, join the CAP's advocacy webinar this Wednesday, August 12th, for a closer look at what's at stake. Before we go, here's a preview of some of the other stories the team is working on this week. The CAP isn't just shaping policy in Washington, it's also winning key battles in state capitals across the country. We talked with Dr. Rebecca Yorke of the CAP's Federal and State Affairs Committee about some of the big state advocacy wins already this year. Could dormant viruses help explain long COVID? A new study suggests COVID-19 may reactivate viruses like Epstein Barr, making some patients much sicker. And a forgotten notebook, a century-old mystery, how a chance email led CAP member Dr. David Schwartz to a remarkable discovery about the world's first tuberculosis vaccine.
Nancy Johnson
That does it for the Daily Edition. Share this newscast with your social media network. And if you're watching this video on YouTube, hit the like button and leave us a comment. And if you've got a story we should be covering, write to us at stories at CAP.org. We're back tomorrow at 5 a.m. Eastern for another episode of the Daily Edition. I'm Nancy Johnson. Have a great day.