Currently, hospital-employed physicians are paid more than self-employed physicians because hospitals have stronger leverage to negotiate reimbursement with payers.
In 2015, commercial insurers reimbursed independent physicians about $100 for a typical primary care visit compared to $168 for that same service at an academic medical center. In addition, HealthFirst, a trade organization for independent physicians, found that physicians in Vermont are often paid 250 percent to 350 percent more when they work at a hospital, according to the report.
Due to these disparities, lawmakers in Vermont have been pushing for pay parity for physicians regardless of whether they are self-employed or hospital-employed.
The discussion to tie physician pay parity to hospital budget comes as Vermont legislators passed a bill requiring the Green Mountain Care Board to draft a solution to the pay disparities by Oct. 1.
Under Vermont law, the Green Mountain Care Board is in charge of controlling the rate of growth in healthcare costs. Board member Jessica Holmes proposed using the hospital budget process to slice hospital reimbursement rates to narrow the reimbursement differences between physicians.
No official decisions have been made about how to reduce the reimbursement disparity.
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