This month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released proposed rules for 2023 on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS).  Both rules are open for comments until mid-September and the final rules are typically released in November.  Changes in policy and payment made by the rules become effective on January 1, 2023.

Of note in the MPFS, CMS is proposing to implement changes to the hospital inpatient E/M services that mirror what was implemented in 2021 and the rule extends the CMS telehealth flexibilities for 151 days beyond the end of the public health emergency.  At the request of NAEC, ACNS and AAN, an outdated national coverage determination on ambulatory EEGs is proposed for deletion.  Unfortunately, a 4.5% reduction in the Medicare conversion factor is proposed for 2023. A summary of the rule along with the charts for epilepsy services can be found here.

NAEC has prepared charts showing the impact of the HOPPS rule on neurology outpatient services.  CMS is proposing a 2.7% inflationary increase for hospital outpatient facility costs.