"The agency's previous method of calculating Medicare Advantage rates used the current legal situation -- that the Medicare physician fee schedule will be reduced by about 25 percent in 2014 under the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. Because MA rates are linked to Medicare fee-for-service spending, when physician rates are cut, there is a related reduction in MA rates. However, in the final announcement, CMS abandoned that method and calculated the final percentages based on the assumption of a zero percent change for the physician fee schedule for 2014."

MORE >>