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COPYRIGHT 2005 International Medical News Group
Doctors will see a 4.4% cut in their Medicare fees under rules announcing next year's fee schedule, unless legislation pending in Congress supersedes those rules. Mark D. McClellan, M.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced the fee cut at a press teleconference.
At press time, it was unclear how Congress ultimately would address the issue. The Senate had passed a budget-reconciliation package containing several provisions on pay for performance, sponsored by Sen. Charles E. "Chuck" Grassley (R-Iowa), as well as a yearlong, 1% Medicare pay increase for physicians.
In the meantime, legislation by the House of Representatives did not address the pay cut.
Like other medical specialties, the dermatologists "are disappointed with the 4.4% drop," said Daniel Siegel, M.D., of Smithtown, N.Y., who represents the American Academy of Dermatology on the AMA Resource-Based Relative Value Update Committee (RUC).
This would happen "to the great detriment to practicing physicians who are small businessmen." Dermatologists on average are small, one-physician practices, he said.
Dermatologists are not going to be able to turn to their office staffs and tell them,
"'We're taking a 4.4% decrease, and we're going to have to...
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