tci Part B Insider - 2005 Issue 17

REIMBURSEMENT: Double-Digit Physician Spending Growth Bad Omen For 2006

What's behind the skyrocketing payments?Physician spending rose a startling 15.2 percent in 2004 - the largest increase since the fee schedule began in 1992. This figure makes it less likely that policymakers will be able to make structural changes to the way Medicare updates physician payments. And this in turn may make avoiding next year's forecasted 4.3 percent cut more difficult.No one is quite sure why physician spending went up so fast, according to testimony at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission meeting on April 21 and 22. The slight 1.5 percent increase in Medicare...

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