Reimbursements to doctors who provide Medicare services in 2012 ranged from nearly $21 million to a single Florida ophthalmologist to the $27,000 for the average anesthesiologist, according to the first look at government payment data in 35 years.
The data were released this week by the Center for Medicare Services after a court order lifted an injunction sought by the American Medical Association had been in place since 1979.
It reveals wide variances in reimbursements, procedure costs and what services are provided to Medicare beneficiaries.
Releasing the data could help consumers understand health costs, help providers deliver better care and enable journalists and advocacy groups to sniff out fraud, experts say.
The three specialties with the highest rates of reimbursement were public health welfare agencies at 94%, mass immunization specialists at 92% and slide preparation facilities at 91%. Anesthesiologists and their assistants ranked at the bottom of the reimbursement pile with rates of 15% and 13%, respectively.
The data were released to enhance transparency, said Niall Brennan, acting director of the Center for Medicare Services Office of Enterprise Management, adding that he would not speak to specific cases. The beauty of it, he said, would be in seeing what outside users are able to discover through the data.
The data show in 2012 there were more than 880,000 providers, $252.4 billion in charges and $77.4 billion in payments. The statistics reveal that seven doctors received more than $10 million in payments, and that three Florida ophthalmologists each tried to bill at least $22 million.Read the rest of the story HERE and view the interactive Map below to see how doctors make out in your state.
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