Proposed Cuts in Medicare Physician Payments Spark Outrage

Overall Medicare payments to physicians and clinicians in 2024 would fall by an average of 1.25% next year under a proposed rule released Thursday by the Biden administration.

In the proposed 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (RIN: 0938-AV07), the proposed multiplier—or “conversion factor” used to determine provider reimbursement in traditional Medicare— would drop to $32.75 in 2024, down $1.14, or 3.34%, from 2023.

While the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposes “significant increases in payment for primary care and other kinds of direct patient care,” according to an agency fact sheet, many specialty providers—including radiologists, vascular ...