Us Ophthalmologists In Tears Over Down Payments

Cataract and orthopedic surgeons want other specialties to share their pain. They're crying that the compromise over resource-based practice expenses in the balanced-budget act, plus the move to a single conversion factor, hits them disproportionately (an estimated 6% to 10% per procedure) during 1998. They want Congress to shelve part of the $390 million compromise in a technical corrections act. The debate is over a 10% transition for primary care that will occur in 1998, before resource-based practice expenses begin taking effect in 1999.

This 10% "down payment" was won by the American Academy of Family Physicians and American Society of Internal Medicine over the opposition of a coalition of surgical and medical specialty groups and the AMA. The AMA estimates that ophthalmologists will sustain 32% of the $390-million reduction and orthopedic surgeons about 15%. Thoracic surgeons and cardiologists also will be hit hard.

Ophthalmology and orthopedic surgery groups want to change the 10% formula so that primary-care office visits would still get $390 million, but all nonprimary-care services might be cut by 2.4%.

(Source: APBiscom)