The 2007 physician fee schedule has been a highly contentious issue throughout the last months of 2006. There were two different components which, when taken together, would have resulted in a dramatic 13% decrease on the average for chiropractic reimbursement.
Just before the 109th Congress adjourned, they staved off 5% of the cuts by halting one of the components of the schedule. (Please keep in mind that there is still an average 8% cut that will occur. See below for more info.)
CMS has a few MLN Matters provider education articles that discuss the 2007 fee schedule: 5448, 5443, and 5459.
By way of background, here's a little more on the two components of the physician payment formula that were greatly affecting reimbursement for 2007:
1) The sustainable growth rate ("SGR") cut of 5% that was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2006, and affects all Medicare providers. [HALTED BY THE TAX RELIEF AND HEALTHCARE ACT OF 2006]
2) The cut that comes to some providers as a result of CMS' Congressionally-mandated 5-yr-review of CPT codes. This process and its resulting final rule (to be published in the Federal Register on Dec 1, 2006) resulted in significant increases in reimbursement to higher level E/M codes. To keep the proposal budget neutral, an adjuster was applied which hit several professions particularly hard. As a result of this, CMT codes are scheduled to take an 8% cut that went into effect Jan 1, 2006.
ACA has been actively lobbying Congress, writing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and working with the healthcare community as a whole to stop these cuts since mid-2006.
Article for Jan ACANews (revised 1/2/07)
CMS Final Rule on 5 Year Review Table Detailing Cuts (Updated with info 1/2/07)
CMS Final Rule on 5 Year Review Excerpt on Budget Neutrality (11/2/06)
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