tci Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement - 2007 Issue 35

REIMBURSEMENT: GAO Comes Down On Anesthesiologists' Side

A 32-percent pay hike could be coming your wayAnesthesiologists, rejoice. The Government Accountability Office feels your pain. The GAO, usually one of the first agencies to suggest slashing reimbursement, actually came out with a report (GAO-07-463) that says that Medicare underpays for anesthesia services. The GAO says Medicare's anesthesia rates were 67 percent lower than what private insurance paid in 2004.By contrast, Medicare pays around 87 percent of market rates for most services, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA).The GAO also found that the more Medicare patients in a region, the fewer anesthesiologists practice...

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