Medicare paid out more than $77 billion to doctors in 2012, but nearly a quarter of that money was paid to just a few of the health care professionals. A few of the doctors received millions of dollars from the organization charged with bringing medical care to the elderly and those with disabilities.
A single ophthalmologist in south Florida, Salomon Melgen, benefited from $21 million in funding from the agency during that single year. He made the news in 2013 after Sen. Robert Menedez of New Jersey used the doctor's personal jet for trips to the Dominican Republic.
Dozens of medical professionals received more than $4 million each year from the agency.
This revelation comes from the most detailed study ever made of Medicare spending.
Medicare delivered about $610 million to just 100 doctors in 2012. More than three-quarters of all funds delivered directly from the agency to doctors was paid out to just 25 percent of the doctors enrolled in the program.
Routine office visits account for most of the spending by Medicare, totaling $12 billion, covering 214 million trips to the doctor.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made the data available to the general public on April 9.
"Currently, consumers have limited information about how physicians and other health care professionals practice medicine. This data will help fill that gap by offering insight into the Medicare portion of a physician's practice. The data released today afford researchers, policymakers and the public a new window into health care spending and physician practice patterns," Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, said.
This is the first time in the 50-year history of the program that payments to individual doctors have been detailed. The American Medical Association, among other groups, lobbied to keep the information free from public scrutiny, citing privacy concerns. Insurance companies, journalists and political activists will likely be pouring over data for weeks and months.
Treatments for an eye condition common in senior citizens received more than one billion dollars in funding, covering 143,000 patients. That is an average of nearly $7,000 per person treated for the disorder.
Ambulance services and medical laboratories accounted for $13.5 billion in direct payments by Medicare.
In May 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services released a report allowing people to compare prices offered by hospitals across the country for common procedures.
"Data transparency is a key aspect of transformation of the health care delivery system. While there's more work ahead, this data release will help beneficiaries and consumers better understand how care is delivered through the Medicare program," Marilyn Tavenner, CMS administrator, said.
