CMS Finalizes CY 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued the final rule for the physician fee schedule (PFS) for calendar year (CY) 2024, which implements new evaluation and management (E/M) policies and solidifies certain existing telehealth policies.

In the final rule, CMS reduced overall payment rates under the PFS by 1.25% in CY 2024 compared to CY 2023. The final CY 2024 PFS conversion factor is $32.74, which is a decrease of $1.15 (or 3.4%) from the current CY 2023 conversion factor of $33.89, representing a decrease in overall pay to physicians.

CMS has also finalized a new payment code to reflect changes in policies regarding evaluation and management (E/M) services. Beginning January 1, 2024, a separate add-on payment for healthcare common procedure coding system (HCPCS) code G2211 is being implemented for billing split (or shared) visits. Split (or shared) E/M visits refer to visits provided in part by physicians and in part by other non-physician practitioners in hospitals and other institutional settings. The new code reflects the resource costs associated with E/M visits for primary care and longitudinal care. Generally, it will be applicable for outpatient and office visits as an additional payment, recognizing the inherent costs involved when clinicians are the continuing focal point for all needed services, or are part of ongoing care related to a patient’s single, serious condition or a complex condition.

In conjunction with the new E/M code for split (or shared) visits, CMS has also revised its definition of “substantive portion” of a split visit to include recent revisions to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) guidelines, such that for Medicare billing purposes, the “substantive portion” means more than half of the total time spent by the physician or non-physician practitioner performing the shared visit, or a substantive part of the medical decision making.

Additionally, the final rule solidifies several telehealth-related provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, including:

• The temporary expansion of the scope of telehealth originating sites for services furnished via telehealth to include any site in the United States where the beneficiary is located at the time of the telehealth service, including an individual’s home;
• The expansion of the definition of telehealth practitioners to include qualified occupational therapists, qualified physical therapists, qualified speech-language pathologists, and qualified audiologists;
• The continued payment for telehealth services furnished by rural health clinics (RHCs) and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) using the methodology established for those telehealth services during the COVID-19 PHE;
• Delaying the requirement for an in-person visit with the physician or practitioner within six months prior to initiating mental health telehealth services, and again at subsequent intervals as the Secretary determines appropriate, as well as similar requirements for RHCs and FQHCs; and
• The continued coverage and payment of telehealth services included on the Medicare Telehealth Services List (as of March 15, 2020) until December 31, 2024.

The final rule goes into effect January 1, 2024. Providers and suppliers should take note of the policy changes to E/M services, as well as the continued telehealth policies and flexibilities remaining in place through the end of 2024.

For over 35 years, Wachler & Associates has represented healthcare providers and suppliers nationwide in a variety of health law matters, and our attorneys can assist providers and suppliers in understanding new developments in healthcare law and regulation. If you or your healthcare entity has any questions pertaining to healthcare compliance, please contact an experienced healthcare attorney at 248-544-0888 or wapc@wachler.com.