tci Part B Insider - 2007 Issue 13

Medicare Could Split Updates Between Procedures And E/M Visits

As the nation's over-65 population doubles between 2000 and 2030, patients will be demanding more physician services from Medicare, according to Ed Salsburg, associate vice president of the American Association of Medical Colleges. In particular, oncologists will be in short supply, Salsburg told the Medicare Payments Advisory Commission-s April meeting.The real problem isn't a shortage of doctors, but a shortage of primary care doctors, argued Kevin Grumbach, chair of the UCSF Center for California Health Workforce Studies. Medicare still pays more for a doctor's time if he or she is doing a procedure (like a colonoscopy) than if...

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