Conversion factor update: New $33.2875 fee reflects 9-month boost

Check the remittance advice for the services your practice performed on or after March 9. Your payments should reflect the new conversion factor that is based on the recent 2.93% increase to the physician conversion factor and the extension of the work geographic index. Both changes were part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, which President Biden signed into law on March 9.

 

The conversion factor fix has been an annual event for more than a decade, but unlike most fee fixes, this one only covers services from March 9 through the end of 2024. It is not retroactive to the start of the year.

 

CMS quietly released updated relative value unit and anesthesia conversion factor files on March 15. The new national physician conversion factor is $33.2875 (Zip) and the national anesthesia conversion factor is $20.7739 (Zip).

 

Keep an eye on your Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) for locality-adjusted fees, and information on when you should see an adjustment to your pay. But to get an idea of how the new conversion factor will impact your payment, consider the national, non-facility fees for established office/outpatient E/M code 99214. The following chart shows the base fee for the visit in 2023, 2024 from Jan. 1 to March 8, and March 9 to Dec. 31.