Between 2005 and 2012, the number of physicians who accepted new Medicare patients rose from 87.9 percent to 90.7 percent, according to a report from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
The ASPE used data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, which surveyed thousands of office-based physicians.
According to the report, physicians are also accepting more new Medicare patients than new privately insured patients.
In July, CMS reported that the number of physicians who have opted out of Medicare tripled between 2010 and 2012. However, HHS and ASPE officials said "to the extent that there may have been a very small increase in the number of providers 'opting out,' that increase has been mitigated by an increase in the share of other physicians who accept new Medicare patients."
Currently, there are 650,000 physicians who participate in and bill Medicare, and including non-physician providers like nurse practitioners, more than 1 million providers are active in the Medicare program.
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