 “If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”
—P.J. O’Rourke
Impending cuts in Medicare payments are causing America’s group medical practices to rethink practice management strategies in a number of areas, including putting a limit on the number of Medicare beneficiaries on their patient rosters. Meanwhile, Congress fiddles whiles nearly everything else burns.
In response to a recent survey by the Medical Group Management Association, almost 25% of group practices say they have already begun to cut back on the number of new Medicare patients they take on or have stopped accepting new Medicare patients entirely. If the scheduled 10.6% fee cuts go into effect on July 1, the number of practices putting limits on Medicare patients would rise to nearly half.
And there’s more fuel for the fire—CMS is estimating an additional 15.4% physician fee cut in 2009. “What an insult to the physicians of this country who are taking care of our Medicare patients—the patients we have asked them to care for,” said Dr. Michael C. Burgess, a US representative from Texas and an OB/GYN doctor and one of the few Members of Congress pushing hard for Medicare doctor pay reform.
The uncertainty over Medicare reimbursements is spilling over into other practice management areas as well. A wide majority of practices say they would limit hiring for staff positions and almost half say they would have to consider letting some staff members go. More than two-thirds of those responding would postpone investment in new medical/office equipment, including information technology such as electronic medical records.
“It’s a very sad commentary on Medicare,” said William Jessee, MD, the CEO of MGMA. “Medicare is rapidly failing to deliver on its promise of access to healthcare for America's seniors.”
$34 trillion—Projected unfunded obligation of Medicare over the next 75 years.
(Wall Street Journal, 2008) |
