Jeffrey Clemens, PhD, an economics professor at the University of California, San Diego, and Joshua Gottlieb, PhD, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, conducted the study.
They analyzed Medicare and private payer prices for physicians’ services only. According to the results, a $1 change in Medicare’s payment for a surgical service led to a $1.30 change in private insurer payments.
Further, in areas where Medicare constitutes a larger market share for services, Medicare prices “lead to significant shifts” in how private payers charge providers.
“These findings support the view that Medicare’s pricing decisions exert substantial influence over private payments,” the study reads. “Medicare strongly influences both relative valuations of and aggregate expenditures on physicians’ services.”
More Articles on Payers:
Opening Up: How Pricing Transparency Will Change Hospital Benchmarking
Blue Cross to Return HMA Mississippi Hospitals to Network
Maryland to Repay $115M in Miscalculated Medicaid Funds
