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News
The 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule was finalized by Congress in early August, 2008. A 10.6% across-the-board cut was facing the 2008 MPFS and, after several attempts by Congress, an agreement was reached to block that cut and provide for 1.1% increase for 2009. The net result for most doctors of chiropractic is a 2% increase in services under Medicare in 2009. The fees set in place on January 1, 2009 are valid through December 31, 2009 pending no further action. Congress will again have to address the issue before January 1, 2010 to avoid an up to 20% across-the-board cut to the MPFS.
Note: Because the fee schedule formula includes many different factors, including a geographic consideration, the most accurate information on fee schedule prices in your area will come from your individual Medicare carrier/contractor. If you are uncertain as to whether or not your carrier’s website is up to date, you may wish to call them directly. To find the fee schedule for your state/locality you may wish to use the ACA locator (be sure to check that the fee schedule says "2009.") You can also check out our Resources and Q&A sections for more information.
The cut that would have come to some providers was a result of CMS' Congressionally-mandated 5-yr-review of CPT codes. This process, and its resulting final rule, produced 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 were scheduled to take a greater than 10% cut.
ACA thanks all DCs for pressuring Congress to act on cuts to the fee schedule. ACA will continue to urge Congress for action on physician fee schedule reform. We encourage members to continue to use our Legislative Action Center to promote reform to the reimbursement formula.
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