Medicare program; physician fee schedule update for calendar year 2003. Final rule

This final rule revises the estimates used to establish the sustainable growth rates (SGRs) for fiscal years 1998 and 1999 for the purposes of determining future updates to the physician fee schedule and announces a 1.6 percent increase in the calendar year (CY) 2003 physician fee schedule conversion factor (CF) for March 1 to December 31, 2003. The physician fee schedule CF from March 1 to December 31, 2003, will be $36.7856. The anesthesia CF for this period will be $17.05. Any information contained in this final rule related to the CY 2003 physician or anesthesia CFs takes the place of the information contained in the December 31, 2002, final rule. All other provisions of the December 31, 2002, final rule are unchanged by this final rule.