A new report from the American Medical Association lists ophthalmology and gastroenterology in the top five largest drops in CMS physician spending during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report found that in the first six months of 2020, the total estimated reduction in Medicare physician spending associated with the pandemic was $9.4 billion, a 19 percent drop.
CMS spending on physician services dropped as much as 57 percent below expected pre-pandemic levels in April 2020. Spending partially recovered from the April low, but was still 12 percent less than expected by the end of June 2020.