2026 CMS Cuts Finalized

[TeslaCoil]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Surprised nobody has brought this up on here yet. Another year another 2.5% cut. How is this sustainable? I mean... we cant just keep increasing productivity to compensate for this nonsense. At what point do physicians begin taking the hit? Overworked and underpaid, who would want to keep doing this?

Medicare finalizes controversial cut to specialty care next year

The CMS finalized the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2026 on Friday, one day before the statutory deadline. It includes an overall payment hike and a few policies that are deeply unpopular with specialists.

www.healthcaredive.com

 

[aneftp]

Some winners and some losers. It sucks for the losers. We get it

What’s fascinating is u can do tele health remotely while supervising a resident who is also remote and not in the same location.

“The agency will permanently allow teaching physicians to supervise residents virtually, but only when the patient, resident and supervising clinician are participating in a three-way telehealth visit. The policy applies to rural and urban area”

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/cms-finalizes-increased-pay-rates-physicians-2026-hospital-docs-could-lose-out

 

[Radar26]

Meanwhile facility fee reimbursement continue to rise. It’s just more argument to shift the focus of compensation from billing insurance/government to getting a bigger and bigger piece of the facility fee.

Physicians need to get more and more into owning the actual shop they work in weather it be hospital or ASC.

 

[kidthor]

Physicians need to get more and more into owning the actual shop they work in weather it be hospital or ASC.

Except that sadly the ACA makes it illegal for physicians to own hospitals!

 

[Lab Lover]

Meanwhile facility fee reimbursement continue to rise. It’s just more argument to shift the focus of compensation from billing insurance/government to getting a bigger and bigger piece of the facility fee.

Physicians need to get more and more into owning the actual shop they work in weather it be hospital or ASC.

Physician owned facilities are more efficient and profitable. But they are so because they skim the cream and cherry pick healthier patients and more profitable procedures, no emergency rooms, no sick as **** patients who require complex care.

 

[emergentmd]

Nothing to see here. The ACA was the beginning towards universal HC and will be pegged to Medicare rates. All specialists including anesthesiologist will take a 50+% haircut. I wonder how the leftist docs on here will think when their salary drops by 50%.

 

[aneftp]

Physician owned facilities are more efficient and profitable. But they are so because they skim the cream and cherry pick healthier patients and more profitable procedures, no emergency rooms, no sick as **** patients who require complex care.

So the alternative is to have hospitals own physician practice plus impose strict non competes radius to control salaries?

Hospitals aren’t exactly saving the public money. If hospital owns an office they can charge a facility fee. Worst that $50 ekg a small doc office charged now becomes a $200 ekg charge.

So more profits to hospitals. More cost to health system. Pay docs less.

 

[Lab Lover]

So the alternative is to have hospitals own physician practice plus impose strict non competes radius to control salaries?

Hospitals aren’t exactly saving the public money. If hospital owns an office they can charge a facility fee. Worst that $50 ekg a small doc office charged now becomes a $200 ekg charge.

So more profits to hospitals. More cost to health system. Pay docs less.

I am saying that I understand the arguments against physician owned facilities.

 

[aneftp]

I am saying that I understand the arguments against physician owned facilities.

What I don’t understand is the hospitals can merge and can have market share over the insurance companies and jack the rates on united healthcare and there is no ftc lawsuit.

Yet from when even private equity usap has market share in a region like Colorado. The ftc steps in to break them up because United healthcare is claiming usap is a monopoly that over charges them.

Why doesn’t the ftc step in once hospital system reach a 60% control over a region?