As many SGO members know, Medicare physician reimbursement was cut by 3.37% on January 1 of this year. On March 8, Congress took action to partially mitigate this cut and increased the conversion factor by 1.68% prospectively, effective on March 9. For the remainder of the year, reimbursement for physician services will be 1.69% below the 2023 payment level. While SGO urged Congress to eliminate the full cut, the mitigation policy adopted by Congress is a positive development, particularly in this challenging fiscal environment where Congress is driven to trim expenditures.
Congress did not include any policies to reform Medicare physician payment and end this cycle of conversion factor decreases; therefore, we anticipate that physicians will face another conversion factor cut on January 1, 2025. SGO has high hopes for long-term Medicare payment reform as a bipartisan working group of six senators has formed and is planning to solicit feedback from stakeholders with the goal of releasing legislative text this summer.
In the meantime, SGO plans to send a letter to Congressional leaders thanking them for providing a conversion factor increase and remind them that their job is not done; Congress must break this cycle of cuts and enact reforms to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule! The SGO Legislative Affairs Subcommittee will call on members in the near future to join in advocacy efforts to voice their support for Medicare reform and sustainable reimbursement policies.