--- description: A sliver of Medicare doctors get a huge proportion of the payments, according to new data that will likely lead to litigation and reform title: Few Doctors Get Big Share of Medicare Payouts image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Healthcare](/tag/healthcare/) ## Healthcare Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Tiny Share of Doctors Get Big Slice of Medicare Pie by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 9, 2014 12:52 PM CUT by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 9, 2014 12:52 PM CUT A single Florida ophthalmologist was paid $21 million by Medicare in 2012, according to federal data released Wednesday that shows a tiny sliver of U.S. doctors who accept Medicare account for an [outsize proportion of the insurance program’s costs](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/business/sliver-of-medicare-doctors-get-big-share-of-payouts.html?ref=business "undefined"). Medicare payments to 880,000 doctors nationwide totaled roughly $77 billion in 2012\. But the top 2 percent of highest-paid doctors who accept Medicare accounted for about $15 billion in payments under the system, almost a quarter of the total not including commercial entity payments, according to data analyzed by the New York _Times_. The data shows in detail for the first time how Medicare pays doctors for specific procedures. Fraud investigators, health insurance plans and researchers will sort through the new data with a fine-tooth comb in the upcoming weeks, likely leading to lawsuits and changes in insurance practices. “There’s a lot of potential for whistle-blowers and justified worry for fraudsters,” Steven F. Grover, a lawyer who represents whistle-blowers who sue doctors they claim have committed Medicare fraud, told the _Times_. “There’s going to be a lot of litigation over this.” In 2012, 100 doctors received a total of $610 million from Medicare payouts, and about 3,300 ophthalmologists were paid $3.3 billion from Medicare, the _Times_ reports. Medicare paid $12 billion for 214 million office and outpatient visits—most of them outpatient visits between 15 and 25 minutes long. The doctors and nurse practitioners were paid an average of $57 per visit. Ophthalmology and oncology both accounted for a large chunk of Medicare spending. The doctor’s group the American Medical Association has withheld Medicare data for decades, but a federal judge ruled last year the information could be made public. This release marks the first time since the 1970s that detailed figures on Medicare reimbursements have been made available. \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/business/sliver-of-medicare-doctors-get-big-share-of-payouts.html?ref=business "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/55310/medicare-doctors-data-reimbursements/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/55310/medicare-doctors-data-reimbursements/"},"headline":"Tiny Share of Doctors Get Big Slice of Medicare Pie","datePublished":"2014-04-09T12:52:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:12:42.856Z","description":"Newly released data that details how Medicare pays doctors for specific procedures shows the top 2% of the highest-paid doctors who accept Medicare accounted for a significant portion of the federal program's costs, likely leading to changes in insurance practices","url":"https://time.com/55310/medicare-doctors-data-reimbursements/","keywords":["Healthcare","Medicare"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/healthcare/","name":"Healthcare"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/55310/medicare-doctors-data-reimbursements/","name":"Tiny Share of Doctors Get Big Slice of Medicare Pie"}}]}] ```