Drug pay rule might hurt Medicare access
Oncologists worry that medication costs will outweigh increases to their reimbursements.
By Markian Hawryluk, amednews staff. Jan. 26, 2004.
Washington -- The Bush administration has put into black and white the rules governing 2004 Medicare payments to physicians. But the regulations have oncologists and other physicians treating cancer patients seeing red.
The regulations, issued Dec. 31, 2003, implement payment provisions from the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act signed into law late last year. They include a 1.5% update of the physician fee schedule and increases in payments for the work portion of the fee schedule in geographic areas below the national average.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also extended until Feb. 17 the deadline for doctors to decide whether to participate in Medicare.
"This will give physicians who have been discouraged by repeated news of Medicare payment cuts time to review this better news and make their participation decisions based on it," said AMA President Donald J. Palmisano, MD.
But Dr. Palmisano also expressed trepidation about payment reforms for prescription drugs provided as part of an office visit. Physicians treating cancer patients have come to rely on overpayments for the drugs to make up for low reimbursement for the expense of administering them.
"Although some of the cuts in drug reimbursement will be offset with increased payments for administering the drugs, overall payments for these services are scheduled to fall significantly, especially after 2004," he said. That has left physicians who provide chemotherapy particularly worried.
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