News: More than 20,000 providers to receive Medicare payment bump of 6.6% to 19.9%

In 2018, more than 20,000 providers will receive an increase of 6.6% to 19.9% on their Medicare physician fee schedule payments as a result of their high performance on quality and cost measures in 2016, CMS announced. These increases are the result of the 2018 Value Modifier and adjustment factor.

The Value Modifier adjusts eligible clinicians’ payments based on quality and cost measures performance and reporting. Clinicians who met the minimum quality reporting requirements, according to CMS, receive either a positive or neutral payment adjustment based on their performance.

With the advent of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), 2018 is the last year when the Value Modifier program will affect providers’ payments. According to CMS, MIPS streamlines a number of different quality reporting programs, the Value Modifier program is just one of several.

Editor’s note: To read more about the Value Modifier results for 2018, click here. To read CMS’ release, click here. To read about the recent recommendations to replace MIPS altogether, click here.