As Congress prepares to take further action to create a new Medicare physician payment system, the Department of Health and Human Services says physician participation in Medicare is growing.

HHS Aug. 22 said the percentage of office-based physicians who report accepting new Medicare patients has not changed significantly – from 87.9 percent of physicians in 2005, to 90.7 percent in 2012. In addition, the number of physicians who have agreed to accept Medicare continues to grow--from 705,568 in 2012 to 735,041 in 2013, HHS said in a brief. The Department said the percentage of physicians who report accepting new Medicare patients is similar to, and in recent years slightly higher than, the percentage accepting new privately insured patients, and beneficiary access to care remains high and has remained stable over the past five years.

Congress is working to replace Medicare's current physician payment system because it regularly produces reimbursement cuts for physicians, which physicians and lawmakers have said is causing physicians to rethink their participation in the program. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved a bill (H.R. 2810) to reform the system, and the Senate Finance Committee also is drafting legislation. Physicians’ Medicare reimbursement will be reduced about 25 percent in 2014 unless Congress intervenes.

The brief is available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2013/PhysicianMedicare/ib_PhysicianMedicare.cfm