My Medicare experience is a disaster!

[golfguru]

My wife and I just relocated to a smaller town north of Seattle. So I called every doctor in town and also in a nearby town. Not a single doctor is accepting new Medicare patients! The only place I can go to see a doc is in a public clinic of some kind which caters mainly to Spanish speaking people.

What good is Medicare if no doctor wants to accept you as a patient?

[babylonsister]

1. Sounds like the docs are overloaded. And damn those Spanish-

speaking people. :eyes:
Maybe you should have moved somewhere with more docs? :shrug:

[golfguru]

3. There are a dozen practicing physicians in this town

and about the same number in a nearby town.
Not a single one of them wants new Medicare patients!
I have nothing against Spanish speaking people, but the
patients at that clinic are mostly on welfare. I paid taxes
for Medicare since the beginning, and I am disgusted with the situation.

[babylonsister]

5. Are there a lot of retired people? I understand your disgust, but

supply, demand, yada yada yada. Maybe that's why FL is a haven for older folks; docs all over the place.

[golfguru]

12. Actually this is not a retirement community!

Only reason we moved here is to be closer to our daughters attending Univ of Washington. Fortunately, I have very few health issues, and can survive indefinitely without seeing any doctor. But I feel for other seniors who have health issues.

[jwirr]

14. See if you can go to the University of Washington Hospitals if there

are any.

[golfguru]

17. Thanks for that suggestion

Although I do not need to see a doc immediately, I will need to establish myself as a patient with some general practitioner in the future. I am sure there will be one out there somewhere. U of W is good 33 miles from here, so it may entail a commute.

My point is that fewer and fewer physicians want to take on new patients.

[HockeyMom]

2. I had that problem with Cigna HMO

on LI, 30 miles from NYC. Doctors either said they weren't taking new patients, or not HMO. I spent two hours on the phone calling doctors, and gave up before I finished calling them all. That is how many doctors there are in the NYC vicinity. I ended up going to a low cost clinic (for my daughter), and paid out of pocket.

[golfguru]

8. Sorry about your HMO experience...

I will avoid signing up with any HMO unless there is absolutely no other choice possible. I was once on Cigna HMO, and the doctors were extremely reluctant to send you to a specialist.

My 5 year old had very bad bouts of tonsillitis to the point she could eat anything. Her tonsils were so large, there was no opening left! Yet the HMO doctor refused to send her to a surgeon for tonsil removal. Only after my wife and I got into a shouting match with the doctor, did she grudgingly gave us the referral to see a surgeon. The surgeon took one look at my daughters throat and was aghast at how urgently she needed the surgical removal. After the surgery, my daughter gained weight and got rid of her cronic colds and coughs.

[kenny blankenship]

4. I think what you meant to say is "Healthcare delivery in the USA is COMPLETELY fucked up."

You meant to say : "Asshole Doctors snub Medicare patients - the nerve of these bastards!" And also: "Cuts to Medicare proposed by so-called 'Deficit Hawks' will just make this bad situation worse as Doctors increasingly rationalize turning away Medicare patients as their justifiable indifference to a dying program with a dying constituency. (Hey the President told 'em to drop dead, and my post graduate degree is just as valuable as his, so unless they brought bags of cash with them, then they don't rate my time either) And the "winding down" of Medicare will lessen its historical effect of dampening the upward spiral of medical prices, which puts yet more pressure on Medicare funding in the future, which will lead in turn to even more cries of What ~@%#*ing use is Medicare anyways?!?! in a kind of self fulfilling prophetic vicious circle.

You meant to say: Single Payer Medicare For All is the only way forward to a sustainable system that works for all people, not just the young, healthy and wealthy.

Or at least, I believe that was the gist of your complaint.

[golfguru]

11. Single payer won't work either unless....

the doctors are required to see you by law AND the amounts
paid to them are sufficient for them to stay in business.

I have posted here till blue in the face favoring single payer. And you are right, healthcare is fucked up in this country for sure.

[Suich]

6. If there is a Group Health anywhere near you,

give them a try.

Good luck!

[Big Blue Marble]

7. This is happening more frequently in many places.

My husband's doctor will not take new medicare patients, only seeing those who
were already his patients. He cannot afford to see these people. Medicare has cut
the benefits so much. The costs of running a small practice are high and he gives
lots of individualized care to his patients. Blame Congress, not the physicians.

[kenny blankenship]

9. This is why it's a LIE when people say "O they will just cut payments to providers"

There is a big problem already with Doctors not taking Medicare patients. You cut the payments to them, and you are cutting the benefit. The benefit ain't no good if you can't find a Doctor or the only Doc you can find shouldn't be practicing, or can't give patients the time and attention they need.

[golfguru]

13. I agree 100%...I do NOT blame the physicians

I have been on Medicare for 5 years and with the same doctor at my previous residence. I saw every bill submitted by the doctor and what Medicare approved for payment. I understand completely why doctors can't afford to see Medicare patients.

[golfguru]

10. edited

wrong post

[jwirr]

15. Yes, isn't there a bill that goes into effect soon that will be cutting

them even more soon? It is ironic we are willing to pay insurance companies to cover us but not doctors to take care of us.

[golfguru]

19. They seriously need to INCREASE Medicare payments

to doctors and hospitals otherwise no doc will be able to afford to sign us on.

For last 5 years that I have been on Medicare, I have observed the government typically pays 1/3 of what is billed depending on type of medical procedure performed. So I can't blame any doctor for not wanting new Medicare patients. We get copies of statements from Medicare showing what was billed and what was paid. So it is all out there to see.

[SheilaT]

16. This has been a problem for as long as I can remember.

Sometimes or in some places it's worse than in others. There's a genuine shortage of primary care physicians.

In the early 70's in the Washington DC area, where I was then living, there were very many doctors who were not taking any new patients at all.

I suppose if you'd already been with a local doc before being on Medicare, this wouldn't have been a problem? Which reminds me that I might want to reconsider my personal "I never go to a doctor" policy before I turn 65 in a couple more years. But even so, I anticipate that in ten years or so I will relocate to another part of the country likewise to be near grown children, so whether or not I've gotten a doc where I currently live, I will be in your shoes when I move.

[golfguru]

18. Correct, I was with this family practice for years before Medicare

age and when I came of Medicare age, I continued with them, no problem. But now we have moved 200 miles away and I will need to find another general practitioner/family practice type and I discovered it is not easy at all.