Medicare’s ‘efficiency’ cut will reduce access, not costs

Summary Point: If efficiency is the metric – physicians are owed Millions in refunds…

by Authors – Sally C. Pipes, Mike Koriwchak, MD in “Medical Economics”

Many physicians received another pay cut this year, courtesy of Medicare.

Under the program’s new physician fee schedule, Medicare reimbursement for the vast majority of physician-provided services will effectively decline by 2.5%.

Medicare officials justify the change as an “efficiency adjustment.” The theory is that doctors have gotten more productive over time — and therefore do not need to be paid as much for each unit of work.

That conclusion is detached from reality. Medicare has underpaid physicians for years. Further cuts will only make timely, high-quality medical care harder to come by.

https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/medicare-s-efficiency-cut-will-reduce-access-not-costs