Legislation Addressing 2023 Medicare Payment Cuts Signed into Law

On December 29, President Biden signed H.R. 2617 into law, which will fund the federal government through September 30, 2023, and mitigate several Medicare payment cuts that were set to take effect on January 1, 2023. The law includes the following healthcare provisions: 

• A 2.5% bump in the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) conversion factor (CF) for 2023. This will partially offset the currently scheduled -4.5% reduction in the CF and will therefore result in a net -2% reduction compared to 2022;
• A 1.25% bump in the PFS conversion factor for 2024;
• A 1-year extension of the Advanced APM bonus for Qualifying Participants (previously set to expire after Performance Year 2022); however, the 5% bonus has been reduced to 3.5%;
• A 1-year delay in clinical lab reporting and payment cuts included in the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) of 2014;
• A provision preventing a new 4% Medicare sequester from taking effect, resulting from the statutory PAYGO Act;
• An extension of the COVID-related flexibilities (removing the geographic requirements and expanding originating sites) for telehealth services through 2024;
• As of April 1, states will be allowed to begin removing people who no longer qualify from Medicare enrollment. While this creates an end date for the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement under the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), it does not end the COVID-19 PHE otherwise.

To read the text of the law, Click Here.