One more article related to the potential Medicare cuts, which we hope Congress will once again step in and lend a helping hand, and this article explores some other potential cause and effects I have not seen addressed or at least put in print. That was an awakening to see that there is a 22% profit return to the payers...BD
Unless Congress acts before Jan. 1, Medicare payments to doctors will decrease by nearly 10 percent - and the domino effect will further reduce access to health care because many physicians will no longer be able to remain in business, warns the American Medical Association.
"Medicare HMOs get paid 112 percent of Medicare as an incentive to move patients out of traditional plans into HMOs, and then they turn around and pay doctors 90 percent of the Medicare rate," he said. "So where is that 22 percent difference going? It's going right into the pockets of the chief executives of insurance companies."
"Humana has no control over nor are we involved in the formulation and implementation of process and policy concerning physician reimbursement for the treatment of traditional Medicare members," Latimer said. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida had no comment either. "We have no position on the cuts," said Bruce Middlebrook, spokesman for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida. "We have stayed out of that debate because reimbursement varies based on localities and types of plans."
"It costs so much money to start a practice, to run a practice. And with your reimbursements going down, it's hard to stay in business," said Rodriguez, one of three partners at Gastroenterology Associates of Manatee. "Our overhead is approaching $1 million to run this practice - that includes everything but doctor compensation."
"My concern is, we just aren't going to be here some day," Rodriguez said. "Every single week, I get an offer in the mail to join a practice elsewhere in the country for $200,000 more. Doctors coming out of training can start at $200,000 more than I am making after 12 years of practice in Bradenton. But I don't want to move. I love my patients. I just want to stay here and practice medicine."
Bradenton.com | 10/15/2007 | Medicare cuts: Area physicians' practices in jeopardy
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