Congress Re-evaluating Medical Services Pricing System

Congress Re-evaluating Medical Services Pricing System

A bipartisan group of legislators has drafted a bill that would reshape the way the nation pays doctors, responding to criticism that the current method of valuing medical procedures misprices payments. The pricing system used by Medicare and most private insurers depends upon assessments made by the American Medical Association, the chief lobbying group for physicians. In confidential meetings held every year, the AMA assigns values to thousands of services doctors provide.