After two years of financial uncertainty due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, practices are once again facing significant projected payment cuts to Medicare in 2023. In 2022, practices absorbed a 2% reduction to Medicare payment with the reintroduction of Medicare sequestration. This is compounded by record-breaking inflation reaching 9.1%. Already challenged with financial constraints and reductions in payment, looking ahead to 2023, group practices face a 4.5% reduction to the Medicare conversion factor and a 4% PAYGO sequester, reducing Medicare payment by at least 8.5%.
MGMA conducted a survey of 517 medical group practices, ranging from small single provider practices to large 2400 physician health systems across 45 states, assessing the potential impact of such payment cuts to Medicare rates in 2023, and evaluating how their practices would respond to such payment cuts.