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CMS Publishes Physician Fee
Schedule for 2004 November 8, 2003 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) yesterday published its Physician Fee Schedule for the calendar year 2004. In its Final Rule, CMS announced a 4.5% decrease in the Fee Schedule for most physician services, along with revisions to the Anesthesia Conversion Factor (CF). For the complete text, visit the Federal Register. CMS adjusted the anesthesia CF -3.6%: from $17.05 in 2003 to $16.43 in 2004. The decrease in anesthesia payments is smaller because of shifts among the work, practice expense and malpractice expense components of the Conversion Factor. The American Medical Association, along with the American Society of Anesthesiologists, have begun to appeal this ruling, as they have in past years. The new fee schedule will go into effect January 1, 2004 unless Congress moves to change it. SOS will provide periodic progress reports regarding this sensitive issue. The following chart tracks changes in the anesthesia CF since 1999:
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