Congress Releases $1.7T End-of-Year Bill

This week Congress unveiled their $1.7 Trillion end-of-year spending bill which includes some Medicare relief for physicians but does not avert all proposed cuts for 2023. In the chart below we have provided a snapshot of AAHKS year-end priorities including the expected outcome of this bill. The net result of the scheduled cuts and their modifications would be an overall 1% decrease in Medicare physician payment for primary joint replacement compared to 2022 rates. The bill defers the “PAYGO” 4% Medicare cut to 2025 but does include a 2% cut to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (down from a proposed 4.5% cut). However, thanks to advocacy from AAHKS and others, the 5% incentive payment for APM participation, which was set to expire in 2023, has been extended for 2 more years. AAHKS will continue to work on your behalf to address these issues with Congress and the Administration.