As a result, significant increases in RVUs for office evaluation and management (E/M) services finalized by CMS this month and scheduled to take effect in 2021 will lead to a wide range of payment increases and decreases based on the mix of services each specialty provides. Unfortunately, there is broad consensus that these adjustments will compound the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impact on physician practices and further aggravate concerns about the viability of independent practices. Budget neutrality requirements will lead to lower payments for a multitude of services crucial to combatting the pandemic, including hospital visits, critical care visits, nursing home visits, and home visits.
In late October, Reps. Ami Bera, MD (D-CA) and Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN) introduced bipartisan legislation to address these concerns. The “Holding Providers Harmless from Medicare Cuts During COVID-19 Act” (H.R. 8702) would freeze payments at 2020 rates for services scheduled to be cut in 2021 for a period of two years, while allowing the scheduled E/M increases to take place. Analyses of this approach show improved overall impact numbers for all physician specialties.