2019 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule

April 24, 2019 – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released on November 1, 2018 the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule.

HRS Submitted Comments on the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

On December 18, 2018, HRS submitted public comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule.

Medicare Releases Final 2019 Physician Fee Schedule

Medicare’s 2019 Physician Fee Schedule, released November 1, includes beneficial changes for EPs. New CPT codes for the insertion of a subcutaneous implantable loop recorder (CPT 33285) and its removal (CPT 33286) as well as ones for leadless pacemaker procedures (CPT 33274 and 33275) will be effective Jan. 1, 2019. The new ILR codes also will be eligible for payment when performed in the non-facility setting.

Changes to payment for evaluation and management (E/M) services have been delayed until 2021, giving the physician community time to continue its work to revise current coding rules. This decision saved $29M in potential Medicare cuts to EPs. Documentation requirements for E/M work will now require that the patient’s history be updated only to record changes since the previous visit. Plus, the physician no longer has to re-affirm what other clinical staff already have put in the record. An advance copy of the fee schedule is available here.

2019 Medicare Relative Values and Average Medicare Payments for Electrophysiology and Evaluation and Management Services

The 2019 average payments for EP services are available in the following table Download the table