The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published the proposed rule for the Calendar Year (CY) 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which included a proposed arbitrary 50% cut for services reported on the same day with Modifier 25. The proposal contradicts longstanding National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) and CPT® policies, undermines appropriate payment for separately identifiable evaluation and management (E/M) services, and threatens practice sustainability and patient access.
Modifier 25 increases patient access to care by enabling physicians to manage multiple conditions in a single patient visit. This flexibility is particularly important for podiatrists, as their patients often present with multiple, unrelated foot conditions at the same time.
APMA is meeting with congressional offices and Trump Administration officials to prevent the proposal from being finalized.
APMA has also joined the Same Day Care Coalition, which is a broad alliance of national physician and patient organizations representing primary care physicians, medical specialists, surgical specialists, and the patients they serve. The Coalition is united in opposition to CMS's proposed CY 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule policy to reduce payment when medically necessary, separately identifiable evaluation and management (E/M) services are furnished on the same day as procedures with 0-, 10-, or 90-day global periods.
Podiatrists will not be able to cover the cost of delivering care.
Podiatrists’ ability to provide comprehensive, patient-centered care during a single visit will be reduced.
Solo, small, and rural independent podiatry practices will face increased pressure to close or consolidate given additional financial strain.
Patient access to foot and ankle care will be severely impacted.
Send a letter opposing the proposed cuts to same-day services to your member of Congress and to CMS by using our eAdvocacy alerts below:
Members of Congress also need to hear from patients about what the proposed cuts to same-day services would mean for them. APMA has created an eAdvocacy alert for them to use and a flyer with that alert for podiatrists to put in their practices:
For questions about the proposal or APMA advocacy efforts, please contact the APMA Advocacy Team at advocacy@apma.org.