Casper, Wyoming practice looks at dropping patients on government programs – wants help from the government

The practice wrote and went directly to the governor’s office.  Around 10- 15k stand to lose their primary care providers if this happens.  The doctors stated it was an “economical” decision, and with the recent “economical” decisions in the drug industry, those may not always be the best.  When it comes to good healthcare “don’t go cheap” would be nice to hear once in a while. 

In addition they are asking for help in how to use the Total Health Record program to see if that will help bring in a few higher reimbursement dollars.  Coding in health care is so confusing these days as anyone in the business will attest.  So far, Medicare has not responded, but said they didn’t get the letter.  Waiting time to see a physician now is 3 months, but could go down to one week of they drop Medicare and Medicaid patients, so that tells you there’s a very high number of both here. 

How far will going cheap and cutting costs go throughout our healthcare system?  I hope we never have to see the day when saving a life becomes an “economical decision”. It is not the fault of the clinical workers, but rather the conditions decided by others outside of healthcare who carry the responsibility to cut costs and enforcing the policies of “going cheap”.  As the numbers keep drilling down and information becomes available, it almost appears we are chasing the numbers instead of chasing lives.  BD 

The largest family practice office in Wyoming might stop seeing Medicaid and Medicare patients starting this fall, its chief executive officer said. Western Medical Associates CEO Richard Blauvelt sent a letter to the governor's office, the Wyoming Department of Health and others this week explaining how unfair reimbursement rates are hurting doctors.

The practice -- which includes six physicians, two physician assistants and a nurse practitioner -- will opt out of Medicare Sept. 1 and Medicaid Oct. 1, he wrote. In an interview Friday, he said the office would stay in the programs if it received help from the state and federal governments.

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Casper practice looks at dropping patients on government programs