Physicians will experience a revenue surge in 2014 when health insurance coverage dramatically expands under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a study of healthcare spending by economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Public and private spending on physician and clinical services will grow by 8.9% that year compared with a growth rate of 5.6% in 2013 as individuals and small businesses begin to purchase health insurance with federal assistance through state-based exchanges, and Medicaid broadens its eligibility requirements. By 2020, an estimated 30 million individuals will gain coverage under the law.
Many of the newly insured will be younger and healthier, on average, than those already insured. Spending on hospital care, in fact, is expected to grow by only 7.2% in 2014.
Although 2014 will be a banner year for spending on physician and clinical services, annual growth of roughly 5% in this category from 2010 to 2020 will lag behind that for healthcare as a whole. What drags down this category is a Medicare pay cut of nearly 30% - triggered by the sustainable growth rate formula - that is set to detonate on January 1, 2012, unless Congress acts to avert it.
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