The International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery is urging CMS to exempt three spine surgery codes from an efficiency adjustment proposed under the CY 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, according to an Aug. 19 letter to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD.
The society asked CMS to exempt CPT codes 63030, +63052 and 22633, which cover lumbar decompression and fusion procedures, from the proposed efficiency adjustment. ISASS argued that greater procedural efficiency does not necessarily mean physicians perform less work.
The society said physician valuation should account for technical skill, cognitive complexity, operative judgment, patient risk and longitudinal responsibility rather than relying predominantly on operative time. It also argued that moving procedures from hospitals to ASCs does not proportionally reduce surgeons’ responsibilities.
ISASS also urged CMS to increase transparency around physician valuation and publish cumulative specialty-level analyses of proposed payment changes.
CMS projects CY 2027 conversion factors of $33.17 for qualifying alternative payment model participants and $32.84 for non-qualifying participants, decreases of approximately 1.19% and 1.68%, respectively, from CY 2026.
The society also argued that financial accountability should reflect the care physicians can influence, rather than costs incurred before a surgeon becomes involved in a patient’s care.
Morgan Lorio, MD, ISASS past president and CPT alternate advisor, and Alex Vaccaro, MD, PhD, ISASS U.S. president, signed the letter.
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