A broad coalition of professional organizations, representing an estimated 1.4 million physicians and non-physician practitioners throughout the country, submitted joint comments this week to strenuously object to the extraordinary budget neutrality reductions proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
These reductions, generated by the CPT® coding revisions and revaluations of office and outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) services, will jeopardize patient access to specialty care during the current COVID-19 public health emergency and exacerbate revenue shortfalls that are already impacting the financial viability of physician and non‐physician providers across the country.
These comments, submitted to CMS on October 5, represent the coalition’s most recent effort to highlight the negative impact associated with the looming budget neutrality adjustments. Moving forward, this group, led by the American College of Radiology®, will continue to engage both CMS and Congress to identify opportunities to mitigate the payment reductions before the end of the year.