After applying the 0.5% payment increase required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 and other budget neutrality cuts, CMS estimates a 0.08% decrease in physician payment rates for 2017 compared to 2016, according to the American Hospital Association.
For CY 2017, CMS proposes to separate moderate sedation services from hundreds of procedure codes, including most GI endoscopy procedures under Medicare Part B, according to the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). There will be no financial impact for gastroenterologists who perform their own moderate sedation, the AGA said. Beginning in January 2017, gastroenterologists performing their own moderate sedation for endoscopic procedures will report two codes instead of one: the procedure code and the proposed moderate sedation code, the AGA said.
Gastroenterologists who use anesthetists will see the value of most GI endoscopy procedures reduced by 0.10 relative value units (RVUs), the AGA said. CMS has created Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) G codes for moderate sedation for GI endoscopy procedures.
The proposed value for moderate sedation for GI endoscopic procedures for 2017 is 0.10 work RVUs. “An add-on code for each additional 15 minutes of intra-service time also will be available, but will have only practice expense,” the AGA said.
The proposed rule can be accessed at http://bit.ly/29NT4Em.
