David Glaser, JD, alerts us to proposed changes in the healthcare reimbursement model that would make employing physicians less appealing for hospitals. MedPAC, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, issued a report that details a discrepancy between higher reimbursements for services rendered in hospitals relative to those for the same services provided in clinics. Simply put, more Medicare money is available to compensate physicians when they are in a hospital outpatient setting. This MedPAC report proposes an end to the added “facility fee” that drives the discrepancy by leveling reimbursements across the board in all settings. MedPAC recommendations are not binding, and Congress has the final say about Medicare reimbursements. But in Glaser’s opinion, “the days of additional facility fee payments are numbered.”
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