On July 7, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for 2017. The proposed rule updates payment policies and payment rates for services furnished under the MPFS. For the first time, this proposal does not include information on the agency’s quality programs. With the passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), CMS’ existing quality programs will sunset at the end of 2016 and reporting under the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) will begin in 2017; the requirements for MIPS and Alternative Payment Models (APMs) were outlined in separate rulemaking.

The rule in its entirety and the addenda, including Addendum B, which lists the proposed RVUs for each CPT code and all other addenda, can be found here. The final MPFS rule is typically released around November 1. Most provisions of the rule will be effective January 1, 2017 unless stated otherwise.

Click here for a summary of the major payment and policy provisions of the proposed rule.