Medicare Reimbursement Must Come Into Focus for Geriatric Assessments and Care Coordination Services

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) March report to Congress was, in one respect, encouraging. While Medicare’s problematic Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula dictates a 10.6% cut in payments to physicians starting July 1, the MedPAC report calls on legislators to increase Medicare physician reimbursement next year.
Now for the discouraging part: The report recommends a mere 1.1% increase in reimbursement in 2009. And it fails to propose a much-needed alternative to the SGR, which automatically mandates cuts in physician reimbursement whenever growth in these ou...