Medicare Payment Policy

Cumulative percent change
70 7
60 6
50 5
40 4
30 3
20 2
10 1
0
2000
Spending per beneficiary b
2001 2002
No ote: MEI (Medicare Economic Index).
So ource: 2011 trustee es’ report, Global In nsight 2010q4 MEI forecast, and OACCT
2011.
• Spending
for fee-schedule
f services grew
from $37 bbillion
in 20000
to $64 billlion
in 2010— —an
in ncrease of 72 2 percent.
• On O a per bene eficiary basis, , spending gr rew over thiss
period fromm
$1,200 to $22,000—an
in ncrease of 64 4 percent. Thi is increase am mounts to an n average annnual
spendingg
increase of 5
pe ercent per be eneficiary, pe er year.
• Medicare M spen nding on fee-schedule
ser rvices grew mmuch
more raapidly
over thhis
period thhan
bo oth the paym ment rate upda ates and the Medicare M Ecconomic
Indeex
(MEI). Thhe
cumulativee
in ncrease in fee e-schedule up pdates from 2000 2 to 20100
was 8 perceent.
The commparable
cu umulative inc crease in the MEI was 22 2 percent.
• The T growth in n spending pe er beneficiary y was due moore
to growthh
in the volumme
and intennsity
of f services pro ovided than to t fee increas ses. The voluume
of imaging,
tests, andd
“other
pr rocedures” (p procedures other o than maj ajor procedurres)
grew more
rapidly thaan
the volumme
of
major m procedu ures and eval luation and management m sservices.
388 Moving forward from the sustainable growth rate (SGR) system
MEI
Fee updates
2003 2004
2005
18
2006 2007
2008 2009
2010