Controlling Spending In A Fee-For-Service System

November 5, 2020

The US has the highest priced healthcare on the globe, yet mechanisms used by other countries to set and update prices are often disregarded, with a proclivity to favor strategies such as reducing the use of fee-for-service reimbursement. Using a comparison of policies in three high-income countries (France, Germany, and Japan), this article describes how payers and physicians engage in structured fee negotiations and standardize prices in systems where fee-for-service is the main model of outpatient physician reimbursement. The parties involved, the frequency of fee schedule updates, and the scope of the negotiations vary, but all three countries attempt to balance the interests of payers with those of physician associations. Read more here.

(Source: Gusmano, MK et al. Health Affairs; 11/2/20)

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