Physicians will begin to see a .5 percent increase on all Medicare payments beginning with July 1, 2015, dates of service, and the national anesthesia conversion factor will increase from $22.4968 to $22.6093.
The increase was part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), a law designed to permanently repeal the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. MACRA was approved by the House of Representatives in late March and then finalized by the US Senate and signed into law by President Barack Obama in mid-April, but the first fee increases didn’t take effect until July 1.
In addition to the increase for the second half of 2015, physicians will receive a .5 percent increase each year through 2019, including an increase to the anesthesia factor.
For a state by state look at the updated 2015 conversion factor, the American Society of Anesthesiologists has provided a locale-specific listing. As well, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has published updated fee schedules for all carriers, which includes fee-for-service procedures which anesthesiologists also may perform.
Indiana and Michigan Medicare Part B providers can find updated, locally adjusted fee schedules and anesthesia conversion factors on the WPS Medicare website. Medicare Administrative Carriers for other states will provide the same information based on their covered localities.
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