Medicare expenditures for physician and supplier services, 1970-88

The trend data in this article focus on Medicare expenditures and allowed charges for physician and supplier services rendered during the period from 1970 through 1988. A brief overview is presented on the provisions of the new Medicare physician payment system mandated by Congress and scheduled to be phased in starting January 1, 1992. The data provide one of the baselines that could be used for measuring and evaluating the impact of the new Medicare payment system for physician services.