WEBINAR UPDATE as of May 9, 2023

DEA Extends COVID-19 Flexibilities for Current Telemedicine Relationships until November 2024

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NYSPA Webinar:  Update on the End of the Federal PHE, April 24, 2023  

Unfortunately, it appears that the beginning of the presentation did not record properly.  Therefore, we have provided the following summary of the subject matter of the first few minutes of the presentation: 

The federal public health emergency (PHE) will be ending on May 11, 2023.  In anticipation of the end of the PHE, the DEA published proposed rules regarding the prescribing of controlled substances and the prescribing of buprenorphine by means of a telemedicine relationship.  Please keep in mind that these are proposed rules and are not yet final.  Following a 30-day public comment period, the DEA will review and consider all comments and then prepare and issue final rules.  At this time, there is no official timeframe for issuance of final rules. 

The following is a summary of key provisions of the proposed rules.  We currently await issuance of a final rule.  

ACTION ALERT

Unless Congress acts, psychiatrists are facing continued Medicare reimbursement cuts.

While we achieved some legislative wins to increase payments for psychotherapy services in 2024 and mitigate recent overall Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) cuts on a temporary basis, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a 3.4% reduction in Medicare's physician payments for 2024. 

This cut would be devastating to physician practices and the patients they care for. To make matters worse, physician reimbursement is the only payment within Medicare without an annual inflationary update. Additional cuts could necessitate reduced staffing and office closures, disproportionately harming rural and underserved communities.  

Please urge Congress to prevent these devastating cuts from going into effect by cosponsoring the Supporting Medicare Providers Act (H.R. 2474). 

This bipartisan bill puts physicians on an equal fiscal footing with other entities drawing Medicare payment. The legislation applies a permanent inflation-based update to the MPFS conversion factor, which will provide much-needed stability to the Medicare payment system as physicians contend with an increasingly challenging environment providing Medicare beneficiaries with access to timely and quality care.

Urge Your Representative to Stop MPFS Cuts