email article WASHINGTON -- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposed 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) rule for Medicare would lower the amount physicians are paid under fee-for-service Medicare and change the requirements for incentives under the Quality Payment Program. The changes, announced at 8 p.m. Tuesday, include a decrease in the "conversion factor" -- the multiplier that Medicare applies to relative value units (RVUs) to calculate reimbursement for a particular service or procedure under Medicare's fee-for-service system. Due to budget neutrality changes required by law and the expiration of a 3.75% payment increase provided by Congress, "the proposed CY [calendar year] 2022 PFS conversion factor is $33.58, a decrease of $1.31 from the CY 2021 PFS conversion factor of $34.89," CMS said in a fact sheet. "The PFS conversion factor reflects the statutory update of 0.00% and the adjustment necessary to account for changes in relative value units and expenditures that would result from our proposed policies."