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Policy & oversight

CMS Proposes About a 1.7 Percent Doctor Pay Cut for 2027, With MIPS Quality Reporting Heading Toward Sunset

CMS proposes cutting what Medicare pays most doctors by about 1.7 percent for 2027 as a temporary 2026 congressional raise expires, and would also begin sunsetting the traditional MIPS quality reporting program. Public comments are due September 14, 2026.

By the Goodsurance editorial teamAugust 24, 2026

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed the Calendar Year 2027 Physician Fee Schedule on July 14, 2026, and is accepting public comments through September 14, 2026.

CMS proposes lowering the conversion factor, the multiplier Medicare uses to translate clinical work values into payment, to 32 dollars and 84 cents per relative value unit for clinicians not in qualifying Advanced Alternative Payment Models. That is a decrease of about 56 cents, or roughly 1.68 percent, from the current rate of 33 dollars and 40 cents. Clinicians in qualifying Alternative Payment Models would see a smaller cut, from 33 dollars and 57 cents to 33 dollars and 17 cents, about 1.19 percent lower.

Medicare proposes a 1.7 percent doctor pay cut for 2027 as a temporary congressional raise expires and MIPS reporting heads toward a 2029 sunset.

CMS says the primary driver is the expiration of a temporary 2.5 percent physician payment increase Congress authorized for 2026. Without new legislation, that boost does not carry forward into 2027.

The proposed rule also sets in motion the end of traditional MIPS. Beginning with the 2029 performance period, the Merit-based Incentive Payment System would sunset in favor of MIPS Value Pathways, specialty-specific reporting bundles. CMS proposes three new pathways covering diabetes, hypertension, and hospital-based care, and estimates the full set would cover approximately 98 percent of specialties.

For Medicare patients, sustained payment reductions create pressure on physician practices, particularly small or rural offices. Provider groups have warned the cuts could push some doctors to limit Medicare participation. CMS frames the MIPS reforms as reducing administrative burden while moving care toward value-based models. Public comments are accepted at regulations.gov through September 14.

In plain words

Medicare pays doctors on a set rate scale. For 2027, CMS wants to lower those rates by about 1.7 percent for most doctors. The main reason is that a temporary raise Congress passed for 2026 expires at the end of this year and no new fix has been passed yet.

The same proposed rule would also start winding down a quality reporting program most doctors currently use. That program would end in 2029, replaced by simpler specialty-focused report cards.

Lower rates do not always reduce patient access right away, but doctors at small or rural practices may find it harder to keep accepting new Medicare patients if pay keeps falling. CMS says the changes will cut paperwork and reward better-quality care.

Anyone can comment on this proposal at regulations.gov through September 14, 2026.

Understand the basics first

Source: CMS
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