CAFP submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed rule governing the 2011 Physician Fee Schedule.  CAFP supported AAFP's analysis on the proposed rule and urged CMS to broaden the codes that will be included in the definition of "primary care services" for the purposes of establishing which physicians would receive health care reform bonus payments.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), primary care physicians will receive a 10 percent bonus for Medicare services beginning January 2011.  To qualify for the bonus, 60 percent of primary care physicians' Medicare charges must be for primary care services as defined by evaluation and management codes for office, nursing home and home visits.  The proposed rule governing the 2011 Physician Fee Schedule was an opportunity for CAFP to call for greater flexibility in determining what constitutes these services and to ensure that more family physicians will be eligible for the bonus payment.  As it stands, the threshold captures only 59 percent of family physicians (according to the Graham Center) and has a particularly negative effect on rural primary care physicians.  CAFP will seek every opportunity to maximize the positive impact of health care reform on family physicians.