In an Emergency Update to the CY 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Database published Dec. 29, 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revised the conversion factor from the December 2010 rate of $36.8729 to a new rate of $33.9764 effective Jan. 1, 2011.
On Dec. 15, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010, which prevented the scheduled reduction to the conversion factor by freezing the current rate until Jan. 1, 2012. However, other changes that are being implemented to relative value units (RVUs) for calendar year 2011 are required to be budget neutral. To make those changes budget neutral, CMS had to adjust the conversion factor.
The update does not indicate a change to the practice expense for codes 95800 and 95801.
