AMA Report Shows Physician Medicare Revenue Down 19% Over First Half of 2020

The following is a message from the American Medical Association:

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.

The cumulative reduction in MPFS spending for radiation oncology was 8%.