Blog > Fewer doctors are opting out of Medicare
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October 3, 2019
Fewer doctors are opting out of Medicare

Fewer doctors are opting out of Medicare

Fewer doctors are opting out of Medicare

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The CMS saw a sharp decrease in the number of providers opting out of Medicare in 2017, after several years where thousands indicated that they did not want to participate in the program.

Physicians and practitioners who do not wish to enroll in the Medicare program may file an “opt-out” affidavit that will prevent the provider and beneficiaries seeing them from submitting bills to the CMS.

For years, the CMS had few providers opting out of Medicare, with the number first hitting triple digits in 2010, with 130. But those numbers jumped to over 1,600 opt-out requests going into effect in 2013, more than doubling to over 3,500 in 2015, and spiking at 7,400 in 2016. Opt-outs dropped to just 3,732 in 2017, according to data released by the CMS.

Read more: Modern Healthcare

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