Drs. dropping Medicare patients like flies

[Mango]

I volunteer for an advocacy group and I found out that many of the doctors who care for the patients who the group assists are dropping Medicare as of March 15th. Since Medicaid payments are tied to the economy, there will be a 21% drop in payment to the physicians. :shock:

I also heard, and I am not 100% sure, maybe a Dr. can chime in, that the physicians must pay $75,000 for the new Medicare system and have a full IT person on staff, which means that sole practitioners who aren't group affiliated will be hard hit.

This is a travesty for elderly and ill patients who need medical care and have the least money to pay cash to see a Dr.

Medicare payments to physicians will be cut by 21 percent on March 1 unless Congress delays the action. This is the ninth year Medicare has proposed payment cuts. Under the Medicare program, the federal government paid doctors $60.8 billion in 2008. So far, Congress has enacted legislation at the last minute each year to freeze payments, fearing that physicians will stop treating Medicare patients.
There are about 45 million Medicare beneficiaries, including 1.5 million in Ohio. With baby boomers aging, the number is expected to explode in coming years.

Some doctors drop patients on Medicare | Columbus Dispatch Politics

National groups warn of drop in Medicare payments | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

 

[DD]

Yep..this is what I'm hearing from our docs here at the NH. Many docs in our area already don't take Medicaid, and this could be catastrophic to nursing homes and our patients. There is also a "cap" on Part B benefits for therapy services. So essentially, Medicare recipients are limited to $1860 for PT/ST combined and $1860 for OT for the year. If they have a fractured hip AND are having issues with swallowing, they are only going to receive both therapies for approx. 2 weeks. :shock:
I have heard discussion between our staff/docs/therapists of creative ways to get around this and get the patient what they NEED, but it's a hard row to hoe.
My Medical Director is in private practice (not affilitated with a group) and between this and his recent divorce, he's having a difficult go of it.

 

[Lynnie]

I wonder if these changes are to weed out the fraud? Over the years there have always been some bad eggs filing false medicaid/medicare claims, skimming millions from the tax payor system.

 

[Beach Runner]

Mom and I have gone to the same physicians in Atlanta for many years (like since I was in my early thirties). When she turned 65, some of them stated that they didn't take Medicare patients. Do what? One of them was a personal friend. I was shocked and stunned. After years of establishing a sense of concern and, well, special treatment from these physicians, she was thrown away like trash. Due to cost considerations, we had to find new physicians for her. They haven't known her for years and have treated her like she is old and gonna die, so no treatment like a special human being with which they have had a long-standing relationship.

This stinks. I am in my fifties, so when I get 65, are my long-time physicians gonna treat me like this? I think that the answer is yes.

 

[sisters4]

Mango refers to physicians dropping Medicare and Medicaid payments. I am not sure I understand that. As for the comment about the hip and part B. If a beneficiary is homebound by Medicare standards and a physician orders home health and it is a covered service (which that would be) Medicare would cover the entire cost of home health therapy at 100%. Once the therapist feels that they have met their goals they will d/c. As for physicians dropping Medicare patients "like flies" it is happening everywhere. The center for Medicare/Medicaid services continues to put huge regulatory oversight on the part of the provider. The risk is great in not only not getting paid for the service but getting paid for the service and having Medicare come back later and retract the payment. Where I live our Medicaid department has hired a CPA firm to find mistakes from providers (like not crossing a t or dotting an i) and taking money back from them. In addition the reimbursement is typically very low. So if you take low reimbursement, high exposure you can't blame some physicians for getting out of it. It has become so ridiculous. And the government is trying to enact national healthcare. What a joke. They are ruining what is out there. If the government would get off of the backs of the providers they could provide so much more care and physicians would never drop a Medicare patient. I could go on and on. Hopefully we can get on top of this but I am not sure. I am close to Medicare age and I worry about it too.

 

[sisters4]

I forgot to add one thing about Beach Runner's post. There are a lot of great physicians who take Medicare patients. I think you got a stinker if he or she is making your mom feel like that. Those docs have probably thrown a lot of patients away like trash. I bet your mom is amazing. No one wants to be made to feel that way or have someone they love feel that way.

 

[Beach Runner]

When Mom turned 65, one of our friends/physicians just ate the cost. But a few years later he stopped doing that. I guess that was a decision imposed by his huge practice. Yet he still gives daughter free six-month supplies of birth control (the other six months costs $60 a month with our family health insurance policy). I guess he gives her a deal because if she gets pregnant, he'll make a boatload of money. Those of us who are not in the birthing business get treated with minimal concern at his practice because we don't pay the bills. If we have problems, there is no profit for the OB/GYN because we have to be referred to a specialist.

From my experineces with Mom, people 65-and-over are definitely treated like third-world-country low-life burdens by heath-care providers,

 

[30A Skunkape]

Nobody is seen but everyone gets a sweet ride from the Scooter Store. What is the problem?

 

[DD]

Nobody is seen but everyone gets a sweet ride from the Scooter Store. What is the problem?

ns.

 

[Bob]

single payer