The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had earlier indicated that the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 replaced the scheduled 10.1 percent reduction in the Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) conversion factor with a 0.5 percent increase for dates of service beginning Jan. 1 through June 30, 2008.The agency issued an update on Jan. 11 stating that physicians do not need to take any additional action in order for their MPFS claims to be paid at the new rate that reflects the 0.5 percent increase in the conversion factor. Medicare contractors have been instructed to process, beginning Jan. 7, all claims that contain MPFS services with dates of service of Jan. 1, 2008, and after, with the new 2008 rates.
CMS also reiterated the fact that the new fees are expected to be posted on local contractors’ web sites no later than Jan. 11, 2008. The Medicare physician fee schedule look-up link on the CMS web site, which allows users to customize their search, will be updated with the new 2008 fees during the week of Jan. 21, 2008. However, the carrier-specific public use files are available now on the CMS web site.
An official CMS change request and an MLNMatters article will be forthcoming.
