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ARMED FORCES NEWS
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On August 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published the 2004 physician fee schedule, with another proposed reduction in fees. The amount of this reduction would be 4.2 percent, which opponents assert would reduce the number of doctors who take Medicare patients. (A recent study done by the American Academy of family Physicians indicated that 24 percent of their members all ready are no longer taking Medicare patients.) Such reductions affect not only Tricare-For-Life benefits, since TFL is secondary payer to Medicare, but also Tricare Standard and Prime beneficiaries, because Tricare reimbursement rates are tied to Medicare rates. In response, the House version of the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act would increase payments to doctors by 1.5 percent in both 2004 and 2005, and the Senate version calls for separate legislation to prevent the CMMS proposal. |
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