'06 Medicare payment cuts to doctors proposed

[Judi Lynn]

Aug. 2, 2005, 12:17AM

'06 Medicare payment cuts to doctors proposed
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The federal government proposed on Monday reducing payments to doctors through Medicare by about 4.3 percent next year.

The reduction is mandated by a formula that takes into account substantial growth in overall Medicare spending, officials said. As that spending increases above estimates, and it has the past several years, then the law requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to adjust payments downward for more than 7,000 health care procedures and services.

The proposed reduction was anticipated by doctors. The American Medical Association said last week that many doctors would quit seeing Medicare patients if the 4.3 percent reduction went through.

"Thirty-eight percent of physicians told us exactly what we feared: 'We'll be forced to decrease the number of new Medicare patients we accept into our practices,' " said Dr. John Armstrong, a member of the AMA's board of trustees. "These changes would be just the tip of the iceberg, with the majority of the cuts yet to come in the five years following 2006."
(snip/)

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[rodeodance]

1. this is another wake up call that there is indeed a health care crisis.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. How cruel. Medical costs going up and decreasing $ to doctors who

take Medicare patients despite the disincentive of neglible profit. This will force these doctors to turn away these patients or keep them as a small fraction of their practice. Probable result: less doctors accepting Medicare patients, less doctors who have the specialty of geriatric medicine and more sick, elderly patients.

[HockeyMom]

6. I once spent two hours on the phone trying

to find a doctor who would take our HMO. They either said they would take PPO or were not taking any "new" HMO patients. This was 4 years ago.

That this would happen to Medicare patients doesn't surprise me in the least.

When my husband was out of work and we had no insurance at all, I had no problem finding a doctor who would see my sick daughter; for a very low, spread out over weeks fee. He even gave my daughter free med samples he had.

[Cobalt Violet]

3. Another inner conflict for me.

The hairstylist in me says "good, the $1.00 tippers should get their reimbursements cut to $1.00 per person. See how well they can live on that." How many doctor's or dentist's haircuts do I need to do before I can afford to see a doctor myself?



But I'm a liberal and I know that this will just end up hurting the most vulnerable people in our USA.

I wish doctors had to see a certain amount of medicaid people or lose their license.

[OzarkDem]

9. Doctors haven't done enough

to pressure Congress for health care reform. Perhaps when it starts affecting their own pocketbook, they'll start advocating for something other than med mal reform.

[Daphne08]

4. This makes me so damn angry!

U.S. taxpayers are giving Halliburton and other war contractors billions in this stupid war, and that idiotic Energy Bill subsidizes the oil industry with billions, but we can't take care of the elderly... most of whom have contributed to this country in their lifetimes?

What is wrong with the mentality of the heartless people running our government?

It says to me that they just want all the old people to go away and die somewhere! God, this just makes me furious! :mad:

[Kingshakabobo]

5. How are all the good docs gonna practice their love?

Oh wait, bush was only interested in protecting the super wealthy doctors. The ones who don't deal with medicare or charge a "retainer fee" to their more wealthy clients for maintaining a relationship with medicare clients.

[undergroundpanther]

7. Soon

Soon they will dismantle and destroy medicare, medicaid ,social security and disability SSI Because in case you haven't noticed the neocons are traitors and want to DESTROY the federal government? It's all been said by them before and they do not care what the constitution or law or anything else says. They will destroy this country and destroy lives to get their way because they are sociopaths and do not care and no one MAKES them care no one on the hill or off the hill is willing to get into their face and do what it takes apparently. We basically no longer have a free country or a country with a safety net that will be around for much longer. We have a dictatorship and alot of denial.Government as usual left the building with reagan.We were warned about the military industrial complex..but no one heeded it..We were warned about evil minded oligarchs and corporate people like Bush's handlers from the days of the founding fathers and still no one listens.
The price of freedom WAS eternal vigilance,but our vigilance stopped when we stopped caring about each others well being.And when we stopped thinking and it died when we stopped questioning authority and instead gave them power even when we knew they were pandering for votes and lying to us..

[dhinojosa]

8. What happened to doctors being able to practice their love to women?

Bush is an incompetent prick.