The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the 2017 Medicare DMEPOS fee schedule which will be effective for Medicare claims with a date of service on or after January 1, 2017. The 2017 Medicare fee schedule for orthotic and prosthetic services will be increased by 0.7% over 2016 rates. The 0.7% increase is a net reflection of the 1% increase in the Consumer Pricing Index for Urban Areas (CPI-U) from June 2015 through June 2016, combined with the annual Multi-Factor Productivity Adjustment (MFP) of -0.3%.
The 0.7% increase in the O&P Medicare fee schedule for 2017 is relatively good news after the fee schedule was actually reduced by 0.4% in 2016. Unfortunately, the 2% sequestration based reduction to all Medicare payments remains in effect (currently through 2025) meaning that Medicare fee for service payments will continue to be reduced by 2% due to sequestration. While sequestration continues to impact Medicare reimbursement, it is not cumulative. You will still receive 0.7% more for a service you provide in 2017 then you did in 2016 since the 2% sequestration reduction would be applied to both claims.
Download the 2017 Medicare DMEPOS fee schedule from the CMS website.
As always, AOPA maintains the most current Medicare fee schedule information and will be happy to provide it to AOPA members.
Questions regarding the 2017 Medicare fee schedule may be directed to Joe McTernan at jmcternan@aopanet.org or Devon Bernard at dbernard@aopanet.org.