Medicare pay formula change could hurt payments from private payers

Article Overview

This article explains a CMS proposal affecting the Medicare physician payment update framework in the 2004 physician fee schedule. It focuses on the broader implications of revising data used in the Medicare Economic Index, the potential effect on resource-based relative value units, and concerns raised by specialty societies about spillover effects on private payer payment systems. The piece is relevant to physician practices, specialty societies, and coding or reimbursement professionals tracking Medicare payment methodology and its downstream impact.