Economic Impact of Medicare Physician Payment in Mississippi.

Federal government spending through the Medicare program represents a large source of physician payments. Detailed payment and claims data has historically not been available; however, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently released physician level billing data for calendar year 2012. These data allow assessment of the overall volume of Medicare physician spending in Mississippi and analysis of how spending varies by location, procedure and specialty. Overall Medicare spending for physician fees in Mississippi exceeded $723 million. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]