Public Comment on Medicare Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule

Advocacy & Legislation, Public Policy, Public Statements

CSOMA has submitted a Public Comment regarding proposed changes in the 2021 CMS Fee schedule for CPT codes 97810-97814.

In summary, the proposed changes devalue acupuncture treatments to the point where it may not be financially feasible for Licensed Acupuncturists to serve Medicare beneficiaries and other insurance patients.

Page 286 of the Federal Register lists the proposed rule changes, stating:

“…That the RVUs for the acupuncture codes were based on a pair of crosswalks to two recently reviewed codes in the Dry Needling family…Due to the similar clinical nature of these services and their nearly identical work times, we believe that it is more accurate to propose cross walking CPT codes 97810 through 97814 to the work RVUs of the Dry Needling codes, which were finalized last year, as opposed to proposing work RVUs from 2004, which were never reviewed by CMS.”

The CMS is accepting public comments until October 5, 2020, by 5:00 PM. We encourage ALL practitioners and supporters of acupuncture to submit a public comment. Acupuncturists who do not accept insurance should also be encouraged to comment because this change will have an impact on our profession.

TO SUBMIT PUBLIC COMMENT

Please visit the ASA’s Public Comment on CY 2021 Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and follow the instructions for submitting public comment on this important issue.

CSOMA’s Public Comment on CY 2021 Payment Policies under PFS