A new report from the American Medical Association documents unprecedented changes in Medicare spending as people decided to delay or forgo health care services during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new report, “Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on 2020 Medicare Physicians Spending” analyzed Medicare claims data exclusive to physician services and found spending fell an estimated $13.9 billion (14%) below expected levels in 2020. Despite a mid-year rebound after sharp declines early in the year, Medicare spending on physician services during 2020 never recovered to its pre-pandemic trend. Read more.
AMA: Medicare Spending on Physician Services Declined $13.9B in 2020
