Medicare Physician Reimbursements To Drop by 25%+ for 2012

Medicare physician reimbursements will drop by 27.4% beginning January 1, 2012, unless Congress intervenes to prevent the reduction. On November 2, 2011, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for 2012 Medicare rates for physicians, recommending a rate cut of 27.4% from the 2011 rates, to adhere to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula as required by law. The drastic reduction is the cumulative effect of a decade of short-term bills since 2002 blocking the annual scheduled Medicare reimbursement cuts due to the SGR. The pending reduction has raised concern among . . .