Sullivan Calls for 9.9% Medicare Hike for Doctors
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WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan is recommending a 9.9% increase in Medicare payments to physicians for the 1991 fiscal year, his office said today.
The recommendation to Congress is “a realistic goal for physicians, one consistent with both the prudent practice of medicine and the necessary restraint on cost increases,” Sullivan said.
Medicare payments to physicians have been growing by 12% a year in recent years, about double the rate of inflation.
Under legislation passed by Congress last year, the secretary must recommend annually a Medicare physician payment target. Congress is to review the recommendation and set a Medicare Volume Performance Standard.
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