H.R. 6160: Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act

This bill modifies certain adjustments to payment amounts under the Medicare physician fee schedule.

Payment amounts under the Medicare physician fee schedule are based on a service's relative value, a conversion factor, and a geographic adjustment factor. Current law provides for separate conversion factors for physicians that are qualifying participants in advanced alternative payment models (also known as qualifying APM participants) and for other physicians beginning in 2026, with an annual update of 0.75% and 0.25%, respectively.

The bill replaces the separate conversion factors for qualifying APM participants and other physicians with a single conversion factor and provides for an update that is equal to the annual percentage increase in the Medicare Economic Index, beginning in 2026. (The Medicare Economic Index is a specialized index that is generally used to determine allowed charges for physician services based on annual price changes.)

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.