Quest Diagnostics and Laboratory Corporation of America each received hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicare in 2012, according to new payment data released by the government. Multiple entities with Quest Diagnostics in their name collected a total of $669 million, while listings for LabCorp totaled $717 million. The disclosures were gleaned from $77 billion in payment data released by the government April 9 that provide the first look at Medicare payments to health care providers in more than three decades. Medicare paid almost 4,000 doctors and medical professionals more than $1 million apiece in 2012, including seven who received more than $10 million. Eye doctors were among the highest compensated, including one Florida ophthalmologist paid $21 million in 2012. The data file covering 880,000 providers showed a concentration at the top, with the doctors over $1 million receiving at least 13 times the $77,000 average paid by the program. The data showed that cancer doctors specializing in blood work and radiation are those best compensated by Medicare, each averaging over $360,000 in annual payments from the program for the elderly and disabled, which is the largest health care payer in the United States. While drug and hospital costs have…
