APA wins increased reimbursement rates for psychological testing

Many psychologists who provide psychological and neuropsychological testing services will likely receive an estimated 6% increase in reimbursement for a battery of outpatient testing services under a proposed rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This 6% increase would apply to all psychological testing. Neuropsychological testing where data is collected by a technician would also receive a 6% increase.

This is a major win for psychologists and APA; APA Services, Inc. advocated successfully to obtain higher reimbursement rates, even in this era of financial cuts.

The initial review of the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule suggests that practitioners who gather their own neuropsychological test data may see a 3% decrease in their payments. The reason for this change is because CMS currently reimburses these providers at a slightly higher rate than neuropsychologists who use technicians. The 2019 proposed rule levels out payments between these two groups of neuropsychologists.

“The proposed reimbursement increases from CMS represent a crucial advocacy victory for practicing psychologists,” says APA Chief of Professional Practice Jared L. Skillings, PhD, ABPP. “Our team is here and ready to help psychologists and neuropsychologists understand and comply with new ways of practicing.”

During the complicated and highly confidential process for valuing health care services, APA staff learned that psychologists and neuropsychologists could have been facing alarmingly deep cuts to payments for testing services.

Staff from APA’s Health Care Financing and Government Relations teams spent more than 2 years advocating on psychologists’ behalf to prevent a major drop in reimbursement for testing and data collection. APA Chief Executive Officer Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, and past president Tony Puente, PhD, met with CMS officials to explain the value of neuropsychological and psychological testing services.

By increasing the rates, CMS directly acknowledged APA’s robust advocacy efforts. The agency agreed that there is “no evidence...to merit a reduction in the valuation for [psychologists’] professional services.” As a result, the agency decided to raise the reimbursement rates for most psychologists who provide these services in 2019.

“APA and APA Services advocated fiercely to prevent steep cuts. We appreciate that CMS heard our arguments and understood the value of services psychologists provide,” said Evans. “These proposed reimbursement increases represent a major advocacy victory for practicing psychologists.”

Psychologists who have questions about billing, coding, or reimbursement issues should contact APA’s Office of Health and Health Care Financing.

Visit APA Services, Inc. for more information on Medicare, codes, and billing.