New data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows that 950,000 providers were paid $90 billion in Medicare fee-for-service payments in 2013, compared to 880,000 providers receiving $77 billion in 2012.
This year’s data separated Medicare payments for Part B drugs from payments for provider services, after concerns were raised over the perception that drug reimbursements were included in physician income.
The data includes payment information for doctors, as well as non-physician practitioners, ambulatory surgical centers, clinical laboratories and ambulance providers. Radiation oncologists had the highest average Medicare amounts per provider, with $403,512 spending for services, but were among the lowest for average drug spending. On the opposite end of the spectrum, medical oncologists had fairly low average spending for services, at $181,747, but were the second-highest for drug spending.
