Report: Changes in Medicare Physician Spending During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The new report Changes in Medicare Physician Spending During the COVID-19 Pandemic analyzed Medicare claims data exclusive to physician services and found spending dropped as much as 57% below expected pre-pandemic levels in April of 2020.

Medicare spending on physician services partially recovered from the April low, but was still 12% less than expected by the end of June 2020. During the first half of 2020, the cumulative estimated reduction in Medicare physician spending associated with the pandemic was $9.4 billion (19%). The report also provides estimates by state and specialty…

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