Doctors Get Reprieve From 21% Medicare Payment Cut

Medicare and Medicaid already don't reimburse doctors for the amounts to cover their cost. Taking another 21% hit would only incite doctors to either quit taking these patients, or limit their scope of practice, which in turn means they don't see those types of patients.

If the government can't reimburse Medicare/Medicaid now, what makes people think that they can add 32 million new people to government run care and come close to covering costs?

It just doesn't add up.

Only way for doctors to stay afloat seeing these kinds of patients is to do cattle calls and hope to see about 50-100 patients a day. If you think that will be quality healthcare......

Doctors Get Reprieve From 21% Medicare Payment Cut

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Doctors slated to have their Medicare reimbursements cut 21 percent on April 1 got a reprieve from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is delaying lowered payments until after Congress reconvenes.

The agency, which administers the U.S. health program for people 65 years and older and the disabled, has ordered that claims submitted on or after April 1 be held for an added 10 days before being paid, said spokesman Peter Ashkenaz. That’s on top of the 14 days the Baltimore-based CMS usually holds claims...

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Hit the link for the rest of the story.

Excerpted from “Doctors Get Reprieve From 21% Medicare Payment Cut” By Pat Wechsler, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, March 29, 2010, 4:48 PM EDT
[size="+2"]T[/size]he House passed legislation in November that would replace the schedule of cuts with annual increases costing $210 billion. In 2010, the increase would be about 1.2 percent, reflecting the rise in the Medicare Economic Index, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The Senate never took up the legislation. Instead, it passed a bill that would delay a decision on the 21 percent cut until Oct. 1. Because the House and Senate didn’t pass the same legislation delaying or removing the reduction, the cuts are scheduled to take effect April 1.

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It's time for Congress to act.

well, there goes president pieface's phony proclamation that his health care pig lowers the deficit

we all knew THAT was a LIE

and NOT a little one

more like a ONE TRILLION DOLLAR PLUS prevarication

when you factor in the doc fix, the double counting, the raiding of social security, the unfunded mandate on the states, the 10 years of taxes vs 6 of benefits...

YOU CAN'T MASSIVELY EXPAND MEDICARE AND MEDICAID WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY CUTTING THEIR ALREADY OVERSTRAINED BUDGETS BY HALF A T

this fundamental factoid is america's GUT, it is pieface's insuperable PROBLEM

and: how do YOU feel about the replacement of the PUBLIC OPTION with a federal mandate on every american citizen to go out and buy a (super expensive) PRIVATE product for themselves?

how is THIS universal coverage?

no wonder his polls are at an all time low

Health care law too costly, most say - USATODAY.com

Unless the legislation is accompanied by full financing (offsetting spending reductions, tax hikes, or some combination), such a move will be fiscally reckless. Its adoption, without full financing, will offer additional evidence of a lack of commitment to fiscal responsibility.

true

it's also evidence of a lack of commitment to basic honesty

cuz there will be no offset, as we all know, this is why the doc fix was taken out of health care in the first place

and TOO MANY OF YOU PEOPLE knew it all along

it is what it is

YOURS!

First there are not 32 million people to receive insurance under the PHONY Obama I don't care about your health plan.

The permanent reductions in payments to Doctors are just starting and the Doctors know it that's why so many are planning to leave the profession already.

TheHat said:

Medicare and Medicaid already don't reimburse doctors for the amounts to cover their cost. Taking another 21% hit would only incite doctors to either quit taking these patients, or limit their scope of practice, which in turn means they don't see those types of patients.

If the government can't reimburse Medicare/Medicaid now, what makes people think that they can add 32 million new people to government run care and come close to covering costs?

It just doesn't add up.

Only way for doctors to stay afloat seeing these kinds of patients is to do cattle calls and hope to see about 50-100 patients a day. If you think that will be quality healthcare......



Hit the link for the rest of the story.

Click to expand...

Hey what can I say, "I told you so" seems particularly relevant.

Lets not forget so soon that they purposefully excluded this from the health care bill to make the numbers look good.