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2002 Conversion Factor May Remain in Place Through September February 4, 2003 - The U.S. Senate has approved a spending bill that eliminates a significant cut in the Medicare Conversion Factor (CF) for 2003. The bill is now being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives, with action expected later this month. If the House approves a freeze, the current 2002 CF will remain in effect until September 30, 2003, by which time, many experts hope there will be new legislation to solve some of the problems in payment policy for Medicare services. A final rule, published December 31, 2002 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), indicates a 3.43% cut in the anesthesia CF (4.4% in the medical/surgical CF) to be effective March 1, 2003. The ASA has been lobbying congress for more than a year to revise the way the physician fee schedule is calculated. Legislators in both houses have acknowledged a need to redact the Medicare statute mandating cuts, which occurred in last year’s physician fee schedule and are anticipated for at least two years to come. Even the CMS has expressed a desire for congressional action and has stated that “if the law permitted it … proper adjustments to past data could result in a positive update” of approximately 1.5% this year. “Although we have exhaustively examined opportunities for a different interpretation of law that would allow us to correct the flaw in the formula (for figuring payment levels) administratively, current law does not permit such an interpretation,” the final rule said. The following table compares the 2002 CF with the impending 2003 CF for local areas:
Senators Levin and Stabenow of Michigan both voted against the freeze, while Senators DeWine and Voinovich of Ohio both voted in favor of it. For more information, visit the ASA website, www.asahq.org, or browse the federal register, www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html. |
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