Doctors Cutting Medicare Patients: Stop the Trend!

Too many doctors are being forced to stop accepting Medicare patients because of the program’s regulations and unstable payment system.

While Congress delays, doctors and their patients are left in a state of limbo.

Tell Congress to act now to protect Medicare patients by signing the petition: Enough is Enough!

Last week, physicians at the AMA Annual Meeting held a “White Coat Rally” during which they signed and sent their white lab coats to their members of Congress. It was a clear, visual message that failure to act will “hurt seniors health care as physicians are forced to make practice changes to keep their practice doors open.”

From an AMA press release:

“Physicians want to care for seniors, but multiple short-term delays have created severe instability for physician practices nationwide. This is no way to run a major health insurance program. It’s time for Congress to fix the problem once and for all to preserve seniors’ health care and ensure the success of new initiatives to improve the health system. Nine times in eight years Congress has delayed the cut, which has grown the problem to astronomical heights. It’s akin to putting the tab on a credit card without ever paying off the balance and watching the price tag grow. Now the bill is due: Congress created this problem; now they need to fix it. It’s time to stop increasing the cost of reform to taxpayers and the size of the cut through repeal of the broken payment formula.”

About one in five doctors say they have already been forced to limit the number of Medicare patients in their practice.

President Obama also called on Congress to take act, warning that inaction would “force some doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients altogether.”

Band-Aids and short-term actions are not the answer to this long-term problem.

On June 1, doctors who care for millions of Medicare patients — including seniors, disabled individuals, active duty and retired military personnel and their families — were hit by a staggering 21 percent payment cut.

Since the TRICARE health care program that covers these military families is tied directly to Medicare, these cuts will harm access to health care for them, as well as for millions of America’s senior citizens and disabled individuals.

The longer Congress delays, the higher the cost to the American taxpayer.

Tell Congress to act now to protect Medicare patients by signing the petition: Enough is Enough!

If you’ve already signed the petition, please consider passing it along.

Photo Source: National Cancer Institute, Photographer: Bill Branson

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Janice P.

12:33PM PDT on Jun 28, 2010

One last thing: So many submitted reasoned, thoughtful comments on this issue. Particularly noteworthy were Philippe P., Arvin E., Cobalt Rose, Terese E., Linda Bishop, Steve R., Sandri M., and Deborah K. After having read your comments, I feel that I am in very good company.

send a green star

12:09PM PDT on Jun 28, 2010

I am SO sorry for doctors who are FORCED to drop medicare patients out of financial considerations. Those poor creatures..... I hope they will not have to go on food stamps, like many of those patients they are abandoning.

I have NO sympathy for these doctors. Do you know ANY poor doctors? Neither do I. They live in the wealthiest communities, own some of the biggest, most beautiful homes, belong to some of the best country clubs, buy the most expensive clothes, take the most luxurious trips, send their kids to the most prestigious universities, etc. I am not going to have a pity party for them any time soon.

We have all heard the argument that they had to pay so much for their education. They can earn back in one year what that education cost them. As a lawyer, I had to pay a lot for my education, too. But, I went to work for the state, representing poor people, who could not afford representation. I never earned more than $27,000/yr., before taxes. Long before my career was able to pay for my education, I had to quit working to take care of my disabled parents. I could never have lived the lavish lifestyle that every single doctor, whom I know, does - even if I had been able to continue with my career. Some of us use our education to help society; others of us use it to get everything our greedy little heart desires, regardless of the consequences for society.

If you want to feel sorry for wealthy doctors, you might as well pity Bernie Madoff.

Deborah K.

1:29PM PDT on Jun 24, 2010

I co-founded and was an administrator (and owner) of the Tallahassee Feminist Women's Health Center in the 1970s. We never turned away anyone based on inability to pay and provided a lot of free services even though we had a sliding scale fee schedule. Some weeks we paid ourselves nothing in wages, but we all managed to survive.

People do not receive the medical services we need because medical professionals decide to not provide those services, period. I know someone whose father was a physician for several decades in the La Crosse, Wisconsin area and he too never turned anyone away for financial reasons and he and his family actually lived quite well.

Further, any medical care delivery system that involves insurance companies will fail to provide services to those most in need of them. The current reform signed by Obama was from the beginning meant to benefit only the middle class. In fact, that is what the banner behind Obama read during one of his press conferences: "Health care reform for the middle class." Also, Obama was correct when he spoke of "health insurance reform" and not "health care reform" and I wonder if he ever ealized that that probably wasn't in his official script.

Lorelai R.

2:23AM PDT on Jun 22, 2010

And they are doing even worse to the people with Medicaid, who are children, and those of us who are too disabled to function properly and who do not have another option from a former employer. In other words, the poor and helpless.

In my town of 80,000 there is only one doctor, ONE, who will take new medicaid patients. In the whole county, which has many municipalilties, there are a few doctors who have kept older patients with medicaid, but nearly all of them refuse to serve any medicaid patients at all. So, now we have one doctor for a population of over 200k. You can imagine what his waiting room is like. It is not uncommon to be there for four hours before you are seen, and yes, that is with an appointment.

Add to that there is no such thing as dental care for adult medicaid patients, for any reason. Your teeth have to give you septic poisoning and be taken out in a hospital to save your life in order to have medicaid help with the cost.

Then, there is the fact that medicaid does not cover all medications. They have 'special' lists that they use, and in truth, most insurance programs do, you just pay a higher co-pay for off list. Well, with medicaid, if they don't like your medication, you have to pay for it yourself. It doesn't matter if there is no other medicine you can take. Been there, done that, went without the 350 dollar a month meds., Nearly died.

Elisabeth T.

9:57AM PDT on Jun 21, 2010

Good info, thank you...

Sandri M.

8:32PM PDT on Jun 20, 2010

Why is it that money is always first cut off from those who are the most who need it, and the least who can afford to loss another cent? How DARE the government once again, take money from our Senior and disabled citizens? Is there no shame? Why not start with cutting from the TOP first? Let's start with CONGRESS. They CAN LIVE without butlers, maids, government cars, government provided gas cards, etc.!!! WE, the people (meaning the rest of most Americans) go to work in our own vehicles, buses, etc. No one feeds our wallets with large bills for gas or the upkeep of our cars. This is senseless and INHUMANE at the very least. Did ANYONE read through that damn stack of over thousands of pages regarding the reform PRIOR to signing the blasted thing? Of course not! Sign, move on, and let's go to the next event and have our champagne and cavier. That is all our people on the top are showing us Americans they are really doing. They don't care about the rest of us, because we are not THEIR problem, and they are not the ones starving. It's time to STOP picking on the poor and disadvantage, and come up with a REAL PLAN where ALL can benefit. How the hell can you people sleep at night? Ooops, I know! It's called LACK OF CONSCIENCENESS!!!

Ray S.

6:03PM PDT on Jun 20, 2010

You can thank the republicans for screwing seniors and Medicare.

Mary L.

12:10PM PDT on Jun 20, 2010

Medicare payments to doctors have traditionally been adjusted beyond the formulas set in law. If you recall, Criticism of the CBO's estimate of savings in the March reform bill were based on this common practice. Doctors do pretty well with Medicare patients. It is the Medicaid people who are being cut and will suffer. My 38 year old Down Syndrome daughter has been dropped twice by dentists, and if one agrees to take her, the program will pay for only one checkup a year in MN!

Stephanie I.

10:46AM PDT on Jun 19, 2010

thanks for the article!

Lynn C.

6:30AM PDT on Jun 19, 2010

The comments were an eye-opener to me. I must agree with Steve R. for the remedy. There were quite a few people in Congress and Senate who were for this very thing. But lobbyist and big money won the day - again.