CMS proposes primary care pay raise for 2013; cuts still on the horizon

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a proposed rule that would give family physicians a seven percent pay increase in 2013. It would also raise Medicare payments to other primary care practitioners by between three and five percent.

Other elements of the rule include payment for care to help a patient transition to the community following a hospital or nursing home stay through reimbursement to primary care physicians or other clinicians for coordination of care for a month following discharge.

CMS will publish the rule in the Federal Register on July 30 and is asking for public comment on how Medicare can acknowledge services community physicians provide, even when the physician isn’t having face-to-face contact with a patient. The comment period will close on Sept. 4. CMS will issue a final rule by Nov. 1. Click here to visit the Federal Register site for commenting:

To read the CMS press release, click here.