ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Medicare payments may dwindle come January

Expect your Medicare payments to shrink in 2006, according to the information in the new Physician Fee Schedule (PFS).

CMS released its 2006 PFS in early November, and it includes an approximate 4.4 percent reduction in the Medicare conversion factor, which--along with the relative value units (RVUs) assigned to individual codes under the fee schedule--determines payments to Medicare providers.

The number you-ve been waiting for: Without congressional action, the conversion for 2006 will equal 36.1770 (down from 37.8975 in 2005).

There's hope: Physician advocates hope that Congress, through the budget reconciliation act, will take action to stem the reduction, but lawmakers have yet to tackle the issue.