21% Medicare reimbursement cut goes into effect April 1st (how much, companies, high school)
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For 'The Anointed One', as Sean Hannity calls him, to engage in his 'War on Specialists' because in HIS OPINION they make too much money is extremely short-sighted; so much for his claim of 'being a free market guy'.
His chastising of doctors because they 'overutilize' the tools of their trade (does he know what 'defensive medicine' is?) is equally stupid.
Telling the members of the AMA at their convention 'not to get too excited about him possibly advocating tort reform' was certainly a dead giveaway as to his real intentions.
Finally, the fact that the world famous Mayo Clinic will not be accepting any new Medicare patients means that 'going broke' is not a sustainable business model for the Mayo Clinic or any other privately owned business.
That was one facility of Mayo Clinic and I don't think they went through with it
"While Mayo Clinic provides medical services to Medicare patients, Mayo has chosen to be nonparticipating and thus does not accept assignment from Medicare for professional and physician services. By not accepting assignment, it means that Mayo does not accept the Medicare approved payment amount as full payment. Mayo follows an established fee schedule based on the federal guidelines for Medicare patients allowing health-care organizations to charge up to 15 percent above the Medicare allowable for which you are financially responsible."
Great, all this is going to do is hurt seniors as doctors are going to stop accepting Medicare patients beginning April 1st. Funny, our polticians protect drug companies and allow them to charge astronomical rates for drugs. They protect lawyers and don't enact a federal policy limiting punitive damages. However, they try to hurt the very people who are providing health care and improving the lives of people.
When doctors are Government Employees we won't have this problem
If this happens, Medicine is going to be practiced like Dentistry. When you get 3 crowns put in and give a $2,000 bill, he or she puts you on payment plan. You either agree to take out a short term loan from a third party company or he bills your credit card each month for a period of 2 to 3 years. Most dental practices are cash based. Even the ones who take insurance see a vast majority of cash paying patients (non-insured). This is what will happen. Doctors are going to stop taking Medicare. It will be fee for service. Patients will come in and have a list of services that they will pay cash for. If they can't afford it, they will be placed on these payment plans just like going to the dentist. As a physician, I can tell you that a lot of physicians are already talking about going to this model because they assume this Medicare problem will not be fixed. It's not fair to us. Our expenses go up each year yet we are forced to continue to accept less pay. What business do you know of has higher costs but charges less money each year? My lease steadily increases, my equipment becomes more expensive, my utilities become more expensive, my staff's fees increase yet my income drops each year. A 21% reduction or a 1/5th drop in income is the last straw. Medicare is a pain in the butt do deal with as it is. Now you are going to pay me less? Uh no thanks, I can make my life a lot easier and make more money not taking Medicare. Doctors are already talking about this. I've already spoken to a rep from one of these billing companies about this. If Dentists can practice this way, why can't we? No one seems to give dentists a hard time about accepting cash only
Last edited by azriverfan.; 03-28-2010 at 07:24 AM..
When doctors are Government Employees we won't have this problem
I guess we'll know next week about Mayo
You don't get it! We are not your enemies here. I'm trying to help you out. I could make my life a lot easier and earn more money by NOT taking Medicare. There is enough demand for my services that I don't need to take Medicare. We do it because we feel we have an obligation to treat seniors. Sure, a big reason people become physicians is the income but it's not the only reason. There are lot easier ways to make money than going to school for 8 years and then doing residency for another 7 years (as in my case). A 21% reduction or 1/5 decrease in income is going too far. We still have costs and I don't want to go this route but I will if something isn't done about it.
Dentists have been getting away with charging cash and not taking insurance for decades. Doctors will simply follow in their footsteps and resort to using credit car plans and offering short terms loans to make sure people can afford to see them and pay cash.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 03-28-2010 at 07:53 AM..
You don't get it! We are not your enemies here. I'm trying to help you out. I could make my life a lot easier and earn more money by NOT taking Medicare. There is enough demand for my services that I don't need to take Medicare. We do it because we feel we have an obligation to treat seniors. Sure, a big reason people become physicians is the income but it's not the only reason. There are lot easier ways to make money than going to school for 8 years and then doing residency for another 7 years (as in my case). A 21% reduction or 1/5 decrease in income is going too far. We still have costs and I don't want to go this route but I will if something isn't done about it.
Dentists have been getting away with charging cash and not taking insurance for decades. Doctors will simply follow in their footsteps and resort to using credit car plans and offering short terms loans to make sure people can afford to see them and pay cash.
Quite true- they don't get it.
We DO NOT HAVE TO ACCEPT MEDICARE AND CAN MAKE MORE MONEY BY NOT ACCEPTING MEDICARE. We do it as a service, recognizing that it is a money loser.
The seniors will wake up regarding what has happened to them when they can no longer get access. What will they do? Flood the ERs like the medicaid patients do. Great plan, Barry.
"While Mayo Clinic provides medical services to Medicare patients, Mayo has chosen to be nonparticipating and thus does not accept assignment from Medicare for professional and physician services. By not accepting assignment, it means that Mayo does not accept the Medicare approved payment amount as full payment. Mayo follows an established fee schedule based on the federal guidelines for Medicare patients allowing health-care organizations to charge up to 15 percent above the Medicare allowable for which you are financially responsible."
Good for Mayo! I thought that Mayo Scottsdale would go broke otherwise.
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