Proposed 2014 fee schedule: Providers would see 24.4% pay cut, increase in quality reporting requirement

Why This Topic Matters

The proposed rule could affect Medicare reimbursement, reporting obligations, and compliance processes across multiple service types and practice settings. Readers following Medicare payment policy and quality reporting requirements would want to know which areas were proposed for change before the final rule took effect.

Article Sections

1. Proposed 2014 Medicare physician fee schedule overview

   Introduces the proposed rule and summarizes the expected overall payment impact under Medicare’s physician fee schedule. It frames the article as a review of broad policy changes for the upcoming year.

2. PQRS

   Summarizes proposed changes to the Physician Quality Reporting System, including reporting expectations and participation-related requirements for eligible professionals and larger practices.

3. Misvalued codes

   Describes CMS’s proposed review of services considered potentially misvalued and notes the agency’s ongoing attention to payment adjustments and valuation methods.

4. Therapy caps revised

   Covers proposed changes affecting outpatient therapy services in critical access hospitals and how those services would interact with existing cap-related processes.

5. Incident-to language tightened

   Explains proposed clarification of incident-to requirements and the role of state law in determining who may furnish services under that framework.

6. Overpayments

   Summarizes a proposed change related to the timeframe CMS would have to pursue certain overpayment recoveries.