CMS finalizes 2.9% cut in physician payments for 2025, including for palliative care

CMS finalizes 2.9% cut in physician payments for 2025, including for palliative care 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/4/24 
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized a nearly 2.9% cut for 2025 in physician payment rates used to reimburse palliative care care practitioners, among other professionals. The final rule also states that the telehealth flexibilities implemented during the COVID-19 public health emergency will expire at the end of this year unless Congress intervenes. Physicians and other professionals will have to follow pre-COVID restrictions on telehealth, with few exceptions. Industry organizations were quick to denounce the pay cut. “To put it bluntly, Medicare plans to pay us less while costs go up. You don’t have to be an economist to know that is an unsustainable trend, though one that has been going on for decades,” American Medical Association President Dr. Bruce Scott said in a statement.