Medicaid payment final rule leaves out specialists

Although family physician and internal medicine doctors are pleased with the higher reimbursements they will see in 2013, other specialties are feeling largely ignored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' final rule issued Nov. 1. The long-awaited physician fee rule acknowledges primary care providers but leaves out emergency room physicians and OB/GYNs, among other specialty groups, Kaiser Health News reported. Family doctors, internists and pediatricians next year will see Medicaid payments increase by up to 7 percent, estimated at $11 billion, according to American Academy of Family Physicians President Jeffrey Cain in a statement. These groups were specifically called out in the 2010 health law. OB/GYNs and emergency physicians sought to be included when CMS proposed rules in May but to little avail. --Read the full article on FierceHealthcare