Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Tip: Understand these conversion factor changes already in effect.

The feds finalized not one but two funding packages in March — and both offer Medicare providers some relief.

First: On March 9, President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 into law. The legislation included an update to the calendar year (CY) 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor. The new update changed the existing cut with a 2.93 percent update, replacing a 1.25 percent update. Here is the breakdown of the CF based on the new update and a budget neutrality adjustment, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website:

• For claims with dates of service between Jan. 1 to March 8, 2024, the conversion factor is $32.74.
• For claims with dates of service between March 9 to Dec. 31, 2024, the conversion factor is $33.29.

In addition to the CF update, the legislation extended Medicare-dependent hospital and community programs through the end of the year.

Next: On March 24, President Biden signed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 into law, funding the federal government, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through Sept. 30, 2024. “It extends through fiscal year 2024 the Conrad 30 waiver program, which waives the foreign residence requirement for physicians holding J-1 visas who agree to stay in the U.S. for three years to practice in federally designated underserved areas,” the American Hospital Association (AHA) notes in a release on the law. The Act also “rescinds $4.3 billion in COVID-19 funding from the American Rescue Plan Act that was never obligated,” AHA continues.

Resources: Find the CAA, 2024 at www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4366 and the Further CAA, 2024 at www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2882.