On January 5, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an updated CY 2023 physician conversion factor (CF) of $33.8872.
This change reflects a 2.5% positive adjustment from the initial CY 2023 physician CF of $33.0607 announced in the CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule. That initial physician CF represented a 4.47% cut from the CY 2022 CF of $34.6062, whereas the updated physician CF is a 2.08% cut.
The updated anesthesia CF is $21.1249, a 2.03% cut from the CY 2022 CF of $21.5623 (compared to the 4.42% cut announced in the CY 2023 PFS Final Rule).
CMS implemented this change in response to the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2023 (Public Law 117-328), signed into law on December 29, 2022. This bipartisan legislation also staved off other Medicare cuts, including the Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (PAYGO) cuts that impact all Medicare payments. Without legislative action, providers could have faced a 4% across-the-board PAYGO reduction plus the aforementioned cuts to the physician and anesthesia CFs.
