ISMA Medicare Memo
Shown here is the urgent message sent to all Indiana Physicians related to the proposed ongoing Medicare cuts.
We need everyone to understand the significant consequences of these continued cuts and how it will not solve the rising medical costs.
In fact, by cutting the fees even further to physicians, access will become an even greater issue and more patients will be seeking their healthcare in more expensive ways. Overutilization will continue to rise in the Emergency Rooms and urgent care centers and patients will wait longer before getting the help they need.
This will cause them to be sicker and require more healthcare dollars and cost the government and we the taxpayors even more money.
This shortsighted philosophy is crushing our health care system!
posted by Anonymous at 6:03 AM
4 Comments:
Medicare is notorious about cutting one or another provider in order to keep cost down. Medicare usually doesn't cut all providers equally or even collectively each time fees are cut. Some providers are untouched. With that said, can you enlighten me as to the history of cuts for physicians relative to the other providers?
Your posting indicates the proposed cut will occur in 2007. When did physicians have their last cut and how much was it? When was the cut before that one?
And how have previous cuts compared on a percentage basis to other providers as to frequency and amount? Have the cuts been fairly applied across the board for all providers? Or have some providers been singled out to receive more than their "fair share"?
We need to present a unified front to Medicare issues. Have you "gone to bat" when other providers were experiencing cuts?
Might want to keep one thing in mind. Whether you like the reimbursement rates or not, they are essentially a government subsidy that provides an enormous income stream to medical providers. And that subsidy comes out of our TAXES. So...if you want to see higher reimbursement rates, then we all have to accept higher taxes to pay for them. Personally, I think there is still a lot of inefficient expense still to be rooted out. Consolidation into very large doctor practices will produce economies of scale that aren't possible in the one to four or five doc offices that currently predominate. Look for doctors to increasingly become "employees" of large practices or hospitals.
To bdmd, I say. I know you have a huge investment in your career as a physician. You spent many hours studying and working, and paid a very large sum of money for your education. I know you continue to have education requirements to keep current with the latest technology, as well. And I also know you continue to work long hours. Seldom do you have a 40 hour week. Your day begins long before many people have awakened. And you have expenses to maintain your practice. I respect your past, as well as the awesome decisions for which you are compelled to make on a daily basis.
But let me remind you. You chose your profession. Now honor it.
This is a stumbling block that God has put in your path. You can find a way to get around it. Just ask His help. Sometimes healing the sick is not always done with your medical skills. We need leadership in solving the medical care issues that are present in society. What we don't need is abandonment.
To the last anonymous, I agree but you left out one important fact. It is not about dedication to a profession. It is about the money that Doctors hoped to make. When it starts slipping away, they resent having to make adjustments in their way of doing business. There are very few Physicians that are in it for the "love" of the profession, and you are extremely fortunate if you have found one.
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