Source: American Academy of Family Physicians

On July 13, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its 2024 Medicare physician fee schedule and Quality Payment Program proposed rule.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) released a statement sharing its initial reaction and response to the proposed rule. The AAFP will be reviewing the rule and formulating comments in the coming weeks. The AAFP also plans to provide an executive summary of major provisions and make that available in the coming days.

The proposed rule includes several provisions that are positive for primary care but the AAFP remains concerned that a proposed 3.34% reduction to the Medicare conversion factor will hamper these new investments. The AAFP and the broader physician community continue to push for sweeping reform to protect Medicare beneficiaries’ access to care. This includes urging Congress to implement an annual inflationary update to help ensure physician payment rates keep pace with rising practice costs. Please utilize Speak Out to reach your elected members of Congress.

Despite these longstanding challenges, the AAFP is pleased to see several proposals in this year’s Fee Schedule that are consistent with the Academy’s strong advocacy to strengthen primary care including:

• CMS plans to move forward with implementing the G2211 add-on code, which is meant to more appropriately value the physician work involved in providing continuous, longitudinal primary care. Despite the proposed reduction to the Medicare conversion factor, the implementation of the G2211 code is expected to result in a small net increase in allowed charges for family medicine in 2024.
• CMS will continue to update clinical labor pricing, which benefits primary care practices.
• CMS proposes to pay for telehealth services provided to patients in their homes at the higher non-facility rate beginning in 2024.
• CMS proposes to increase the value of the general behavioral health integration codes.
• CMS proposes to stop implementation of the burdensome Appropriate Use Criteria program by rescinding existing regulations.