Health care economist Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., makes the case that fixing Medicare payment, not restricting MSOs, is the way to keep independent practices open.
Austin Littrell
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Austin Littrell is associate editor of Medical Economics.
Articles by Austin Littrell
A new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds most voters believe Medicare and Medicaid fraud comes from the billing side of care, doctors’ offices and hospital systems, rather than from the patients who receive it.
The top news stories in medicine today.
Most physicians know the direct primary care pitch; whether the economics hold up once you're in it is the more difficult question to answer.
Health policy veteran and "Zen Lobbyist" author Gary Jacobs argues that the payment system, not the insurers, is behind a second straight year of double-digit ACA premium increases, and that primary care-led risk is the only durable fix.
A reimbursement gap of five to 12 times for the same procedure is letting hospitals outbid private practices for their own physicians. Three U.S. Women's Health Alliance advocates explain what it costs patients and what they are asking Congress to do about it.
The top news stories in medicine today.
CMS wants to cut the conversion factor, rewrite the G2211 add-on into a percentage modifier, halve payment for same-day procedures and put an expiration date on traditional MIPS.
Physicians in eight specialties now clear $500,000 a year, and the distance between the top earners and primary care keeps growing.
The top news stories in medicine today.
Independent medical practices face a hard question as consolidation accelerates: keep going it alone, or find a partner. Ziegler's Andy Colbert breaks down what a practice is really worth and how physicians should weigh their options.
As more physicians weigh a move to concierge or hybrid practices, health care attorney Ericka Adler, J.D., breaks down the contract and Medicare traps that can turn a panel-shrinking strategy into a legal problem.
The top news stories in medicine this week.
Insurers are seeking a median 14% increase for 2027, a jump that would leave typical marketplace premiums more than one-third higher in two years.
New YouGov data rank what patients consider before agreeing to a treatment.
The top news stories in medicine this week.
The direct-to-employer model gets GLP-1s to patients without a pharmacy benefit manager or prior authorization, but the discounted price can disappear when a patient leaves the job.
The top news stories in medicine this week.
PYA's Tynan Kugler breaks down the four forces pulling physician pay in competing directions, and why getting the underlying compensation model wrong can be expensive and legally complicated to undo.
The top news stories in medicine this week.
For the first time in years, physician pay and productivity have split, and a new Medicare efficiency adjustment is about to make 2026 a hard year to benchmark, schedule and recruit.
The top news stories in medicine today.
Where you set up shop can quietly cost you thousands. These are the states that take the biggest share of residents' income in state and local taxes.
The top news stories in medicine today.
Practices say technology is essential to staying independent but don't fully trust their current tools, and a Veradigm strategist explains the gap.
A new national survey finds just 71% of adults under 30 have a primary care physician, and fewer than half of those saw one in the past year.
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