CMS is on the case as physician spending, Part B premiums rise.(Medicare Physician Spending)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)

Publication: Medicine & Health

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2005 Eli Research, Inc.

Medicare Part B physician spending continued to increase at a higher rate than expected in 2004. Based on the most recent data, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services actuaries predict that hospital and prescription-drug spending growth will moderate a bit over the next decade, noted Administrator Mark McClellan March 25. But in the annual Medicare Trustees' Report issued March 23, the actuaries have raised their 2004 estimates of how physician spending will grow, predicting now that it will rise by over 10 percent annually over the next several years.

The big 2004 increase--15 percent rather than the already high 12 percent that CMS had predicted--came even though physicians received only a 1.5 percent Medicare payment update. The increase stemmed in...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.