At the end of December 2022, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which finalized Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations and included several important Medicare policy updates. The bill required changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor for 2023. Instead of a 4.5 percent cut to the conversion factor, Congress lowered that cut to 2 percent. While this does not eliminate the Medicare Part B pay cut that was slated to go into effect, we were encouraged that Congress did act in some fashion. In addition, a 4 percent across the board cut to all parts of Medicare, also known as PAYGO, was delayed for two years, but not eliminated. With these changes, the conversion factor for this year is $33.8872.
SGO created Medicare Payment Rate Tables for common procedures performed by SGO members. Keep in mind that payments listed are the national payment rate for Medicare. This payment rate varies by provider and is adjusted by locality and other factors.
With the start of the new Congress, SGO continues to advocate on behalf of members to secure a more stable and equitable payment program for physicians in the future.