Doctors' Medicare pay cut delayed

[sabra]

Source: USA Today

The Obama administration has delayed a deep pay cut for doctors treating Medicare patients. The 21% cut was scheduled to take effect tomorrow.

The cut technically took effect June 1, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has delayed claims until Friday. The administration is expecting Congress to intervene this week.

The House has passed legislation to provide a fix through 2011 but Republicans have blocked action in the Senate, saying there are no offsets for the $23 billion cut, The Hill writes. Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped to have the bill passed by the end of the week.

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/06/doctors-medicare-pay-cut-delayed/1

[siligut]

1. Having worked healthcare Florida...

All the government would have to do to save medicare money, would be to stop medicare fraud. H. Clinton made a visit to Tampa several years back to attempt to address the problem, she came away wringing her hands.

[clarence swinney]

2. i wonder

how much Medicare was billed for
My latest physical followup

listened to heart beat-- all--- nothign else-- did not check blood pressure

Oh! Go get Bone Msss check.
Yes! To a specialist in his organization!!!
co-pay $30 plus how much is Medicare charged?

Prior dr had small hand held thing that did in two minutes???

$$$$$$$$$$$ GOD $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[clarence swinney]

3. ONE A DAY

one per week means an 85% cut in Pharma Revenue from that Pill.

On 10. Son started removing one each week.
Mom felt much better after 3 were stopped.
Dr said take her off all the damn things.
"never felt better in years?

I was put on blood pressure and cholesteral many years ago.

One a Day. Never. One a week. Now one a month

125/83 and 135..Almost perfect for ugly old man.

ONE A DAY KEEPS PHARMA HAPPY

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ GOD $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

p.s. next stop. to try viagra. at 85?

[greiner3]

4. On the other hand;

While a good number of prescribed meds may/may not be necessary for a healthy lifestyle, the overall benefits of a lot of medications can be directly attributed to the advancement of the length and betterment of one's quality of life for the average modern human. With that said, big pharma is soaking every bit of dollar from the people here in the US under the guise of needing more money to develop bigger and better drugs. What's not addressed is the great abundance of great generics and the healthy advertising budget of the ex-patent holders of these former billion dollar drugs.

[AngryAmish]

5. Does anyone know the shame of showing up to the yacht club in last year's boat?

This had to be done. We cannot expect these doctors to suffer so.

[Mojorabbit]

6. My husband is a family practice doc

which is the lowest paid on the totem pole. He has a solo practice and this is killing us. We have an office mortgage and home mortgage, staff to pay, utilities, office and medical supplies and no reimbursement for patients he has seen and billed medicare for because of the Senate. This has been going on for months. I assure you we do not have a yacht and we live quite modestly and he already sees a whole lot of people for free.

[Delphinus]

7. Thank you, Mojorabbit.

Your first-hand account is good to hear.

Please thank your husband for me, for being a good and caring doctor.

[AngryAmish]

8. We just passed this thing called health care reform - remember that?

The numbers do not add up unless this is done.

Sorry, your husband needs to take a haircut.

Or don't you believe in healthcare?

[Mojorabbit]

10. Family practice docs

were supposed to get a raise under the healthcare plan. This is a problem that congress was supposed to fix a long time ago. If the payment gets any lower it will cost him to see a medicare patient when expenses are factored in.
The payment was supposed to be raised so family docs would continue to see medicare patients.
My husband himself has no insurance as he has been turned down for over a decade due to having a heart attack years ago. He still can't get insurance. Insurance is not healthcare.

[toopers]

11. The numbers never added up . . .

and they never will. Anything that comes free (or cheap) gets abused by everyone. The people who pay nothing say they deserve it and use as much as they can. The people who pay for it say they are paying for it and use as much as they can. The only people who will be getting appropriate health care are those that can fly outside the US to get it. What we have just done is created a situation in which no one will remain in their own country to get care. On another note, Amish, how much less should you be making in order to pay for increased costs in health care?

[Expat Sue]

9. Medicare reimbursements

Mojorabbit is absolutely correct. While many doctors specializing in elective procedures are well off, many of the doctors on the front lines (GPs, any clinician that specializes in preventative care)do not adequately reimbursed for their expertise and the years of practice required to reach their level of proficiency. My dad is a rheumatologist (specialist in arthritis, rheumatism and gout) which means that the vast majority of his patients are on Medicare. He is in private practice and must work 3 days per week just to cover his office expenses (rent, equipment, nurses, billing, etc). Add on top of that his malpractice insurance(very expensive given the age of his patient population) and the percentage of patients he sees for free (as they do not yet qualify for Medicare) and it quickly becomes clear that his salary, while comfortable, is far from lavish. He will be 70 this year and would like to work part time but if he does, he cannot afford his office expenses, especially if the Medicare reimbursement cuts are passed. He will likely fully retire, which will put 6 others people in his office out of work. Also, he is the only rheumatologist in a rural area so his patients will be forced to see a different doctor, most likely a general internist rather than a specialist.

We didn't pass health care a few months ago. Congress passed the biggest bail out of the for-profit medical INSURANCE industry ever and tried to cover it up with some meager crumbs to people who really need health CARE. I cannot believe that people think that enshrining profits to an industry that doesn't provide actual health care is somehow a victory.