tci General Surgery Coding Alert - 2006 Issue 1

Medicare Slashes Conversion Factor 4.4 Percent for 2006

Congress could still act to prevent cutsYou can expect your payments from Medicare to shrink in 2006.CMS released its 2006 Physician Fee Schedule in early November, and it includes an approximate 4.4 percent reduction in the Medicare conversion factor, which--along with the relative value units (RVUs) assigned to individual codes under the fee schedule--determines payments to Medicare providers.The magic number: Without congressional action, the conversion for 2006 will equal 36.1171 (down from 37.8975 in 2005).Dollar-and-cents example: The 2005 fee schedule assigns 4.32 physician work RVUs for 13121 (Repair, complex, scalp, arms, and/or...

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