Medicare insurance cuts on doctor’s services could affect acceptance of new Medicare patients. Doctors are getting ready for possible Medicare pay cuts for their services that could affect availability of health care services to 46 million Americans.
The Medicare cuts are not related to recent health care reform, but are the result of a 1990s law designed to balance the budget and one which Congress has postponed implementing.
Back in the 1990s, Congress created a formula to initiate automatic cuts in an effort to keep Medicare costs from spiraling out of control. But Congress continued to override the cuts which continue to add up and now exceed $280 billion.
If Congress fails to take action by Dec. 1 Medicare insurance payments to doctors for the medical services they provide will take a 23 percent cut. This could result in many doctors refusing to take Medicare patients.
Although neither Republicans nor Democrats want the cuts, there is no clear plan to stop them from taking effect.
Doctors have dealt with Medicare cuts for years. But if the new cuts go into effect estimates are that up to two-thirds of all doctors will stop accepting new Medicare patients. This means that 46 million Americans, mostly older and the disabled, could find themselves without medical services.
The cuts would also take effect at a time when many Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age and will be seeking to use their Medicare Insurance.
Gail Wilensky, a former Medicare administrator, urged lawmakers to take action on the looming crisis saying, “We simply cannot let physicians take a 23 percent reduction in payment and think that we are not going to seriously disrupt access for beneficiaries.”
It is possible a reprieve could be granted until Congress can come up with a permanent fix. Granting a reprieve would cost $1 billion a month. Democrats want to add it to the deficit but Republicans want it paid for by cuts in other areas.
The AMA wants a 13-month moratorium on the cuts so Congress has time to come up with a new payment plan.
Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services says a permanent fix to the problem is needed, “but in the meantime, we don’t want any doctor to be stuck in a limbo where they don’t know week to week how much they’ll be paid.”
Source : Rapid Daily
