Final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule For 2026 Includes Policies To Address Undervaluation Of Time-Intensive Services

In the final Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS) for 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized policies to address what it determined was undervaluation of time-intensive services such as primary care and behavioral health treatment, according to a fact sheet.

“These changes address concerns about distorted payment values that have existed for years,” CMS stated. “The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the Government Accountability Office, and researchers across the political spectrum have called out long-standing overvaluation of certain procedures and undervaluation of time-intensive services like primary care. Left unaddressed, these gaps compound over time, especially . . .