Medicare finalizes deeper 2027 physician pay cut
Written by AI from medicaleconomics.com's report. Not checked by a person.
CMS finalized a 2.31% cut in Medicare pay per relative value unit for most physicians in 2027, deeper than the 1.68% proposed in July. The final rule also softens the same-day visit penalty to 20%.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final 2027 physician fee schedule on Nov. 4. Most physicians will be paid 2.31% less per relative value unit starting in January. That is a deeper cut than the 1.68% the agency proposed in July. The conversion factor falls from $33.40 to $32.63. For qualifying advanced alternative payment model participants, it falls 1.83%, from $33.57 to $32.95.
Most of the decline comes from the expiration of a one-year 2.5% increase Congress provided for 2026. Statutory updates of 0.25% for most physicians and 0.75% for qualifying APM participants offset part of it. The difference between the July and November figures lies in an adjustment for work RVU changes, estimated at +0.53% in the proposal and -0.12% in the final rule.
The final rule also scales back a policy on same-day services. When a physician bills an office or outpatient visit with modifier -25 on the same day as a procedure with a 0-day global period, the lower-paid service will be paid 20% less. The proposal was a 50% reduction that would also have covered 10- and 90-day global procedures. CMS narrowed the policy after public comments. The Medical Group Management Association had said it was deeply concerned about the conversion factor reductions in a September comment letter to CMS.
