On July 14, Medicare proposed a new payment rule that would take effect in 2027. With this rule, doctors would be penalized if they provide a procedure the same day as a regular office visit. This would apply even for routine procedures like biopsies of suspicious spots, cryotherapy, or skin cancer removal.
Under the current rules, if your doctors see an area of concern during an exam, they can provide service the same day. Under the new rules the exam and service would have to be split into two separate appointments.
What This Would Mean
- Higher Costs – A second trip means a second bill. Forcing patients to come back for the procedure means a second appointment, copay, and more coinsurance.
- Slower Diagnosis – Patients should have to wait for their skin care concerns to be addressed. But, as an example, a biopsy that would typically happen the same day now has to instead wait until a follow up appointment can be scheduled.
- More Hardship – More appointments means more time taken off work and more of a burden on those with mobility or transportation difficulties.
Knowing these difficulties, we want to maintain a practice that provides service in a single visit for the ease of our patients.
The deadline for public input on Medicare was September 14, 2026.
Because of the short window, we asked our patients to email their representatives and ask them to contest this rule through directly addressing it with Medicare’s leadership. Our representatives are meant to encourage rules that benefit their constituents, so letting them know that we disagree with this proposed rule is the best way to address the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) Administration. We appreciate everyone who took the effort to help us keep costs for procedures cheaper and more accessible to patients.