Medicare (drug) Law Hurts Cancer Patients (Jan 1, 2004, worse in 05)

[papau]

Medicare (drug) Law Hurts Cancer Patients (Jan 1, 2004, worse in 05)


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&ncid=1802&e=2&u=/...

Medicare Law Hurts Cancer Patients
Sat Feb 14,12:00 AM ET
By Rob Stein, Washington Post Staff Writer

A new Medicare payment system has prompted at least some cancer doctors around the country to drastically reduce the care they provide in their offices, disrupting treatment for many patients.

The change has affected hundreds of oncology practices around the country, causing anxiety, uncertainty and turmoil for large numbers of patients. More than half of the 1.5 million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year are covered by Medicare. <snip>

Oncologists fought the change bitterly, arguing they needed to be overpaid for the drugs to cover the escalating costs of administering increasingly complex chemotherapy. They set up sophisticated "infusion centers" staffed by highly trained, highly paid nurses and other employees, elaborate equipment and facilities to store and administer the drugs, and sometimes satellite offices to give their often infirm, often indigent patients easier access to care -- expenses Medicare reimbursements did not begin to cover.
<snip>

Stein said his group so far has referred dozens of patients to hospitals, where the same treatment often costs much more and is far less convenient for patients.

<snip>

The American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) has asked the government to reverse the cuts for at least some drugs, saying a survey of 93 oncologists found "many drugs for which the Medicare payment does not appear to cover the price paid by at least some physicians." <snip>

Patient advocates said their biggest fear is that as doctors are squeezed, they may begin offering the most affordable treatments -- rather than the most effective.<snip>