Medicare Math Could Erase Physician Raise

The 0.5% Medicare raise that physicians are counting on next year could shrink, or even vanish, if the Obama Administration does not hit a savings target, delegates heard here at the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) 2015 Annual Conference.

The pay increase was authorized by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which repealed the sustainable growth rate formula for Medicare reimbursement. However, other laws, including the Affordable Care Act, have set regulatory machinery in motion that could erase the raise.