The Endocrine Society continues to advocate for physician payment and telehealth policies important to Society members.
In September, the Society submitted comments on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule for calendar year 2022. This annual rule updates payment policies and payment rates for Part B services furnished under the MPFS. In our letter, we provided comments on a wide range of policies proposed under the rule including the need for expanded access to telehealth services. We urged CMS to work towards making coverage of audio-only services permanent by releasing the utilization data that has been gathered on audio-only during the public health emergency (PHE). Releasing this data will help the Society work with CMS to address fraud and abuse concerns which have prevented expansion of audio-only telehealth.
In addition to telehealth, we also urged CMS to re-evaluate their proposed changes to practice expense (PE) values which will impact a wide range of services commonly billed by endocrinologists. The changes proposed under the rule could result in decreases to services such as traditional continuous glucose monitoring and fine needle aspiration. Society staff worked closely with the Clinical Affairs Core Committee (CACC) in drafting our comments. The proposed rule is expected to be finalized later this year and we will share an update with you when the final rule is published. In the meantime, if you’re interested in reading our comment letter, please visit the Society Letters page.
For more information about the proposed MPFS, we also invite you to view the recording of the special session the Society’s Government and Public Affairs team hosted entitled Legislation & Regulations Affecting Endocrinologists during the Endocrine Society’s Clinical Endocrinology Update 2021 last month. The session focused on drug pricing, telehealth, and physician payment.
Erika Miller, senior vice president and counsel at CRD Associates, provided a comprehensive overview of the legislative and regulatory landscape impacting these three areas. Miller spoke about efforts to pass drug pricing legislation in Congress, opportunities to expand access to telehealth services, and the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule released by CMS.
Joshua Joseph, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, and chair of the Clinical Affairs Core Committee (CACC), moderated the session and discussed the many ways that Endocrine Society members can become involved in our advocacy efforts. If you’re interested in viewing this session, please visit the Society’s website and click on the advocacy page.
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