Reimbursement for Medicare services...

Reimbursement for Medicare services may decrease by dint of as much as 4.3 percent nearest year because of spending pullulation according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Spending increased about 15 percent from 2003 to 2004 mainly for the following: office visits; minor deeds including drug administration and physical therapy; imaging; laboratory and other tests; and medications given in physicians' offices, according to CM in a literal meaning to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Office visit charges have increased because of the turn toward longer and more intensive visits, CM said. Internal medicine visits accounted for 38 percent of the increased spending for office visits, while visits to family physicians contributed 32 percent Cardiovascular disease-related charges contributed 1.4 percent, and visits for orthopedic surgery contributed 07 percent The CM literal sense is available online at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/providers/sgr/.

COPYRIGHT 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group