Physicians lose income to Medicare cuts. (Short Takes News at Deadline).On January January: see month. 1, Medicare Medicare, national health insurance program in the United States for persons aged 65 and over and the disabled. It was established in 1965 with passage of the Social Security Amendments and is now run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. cut physician fees across the board by 5.4 percent While there are many efforts under way to reverse these cuts. for now they are hitting the bottom lines of physician practices hard. Meanwhile, with many states feeling budget woes as a result of the recession and rising health care costs, Medicaid Medicaid, national health insurance program in the United States for low-income persons; established in 1965 with passage of the Social Security Amendments and now run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. programs across the nation are being pared. As a result, a growing number of physicians are readdressing the question of whether they can afford to treat the poor and elderly. The American Medical Association American Medical Association (AMA), professional physicians' organization (founded 1847). Its goals are to protect the interests of American physicians, advance public health, and support the growth of medical science. calculates that over the last 10 years, doctor payments from Medicare have risen only 18.5 percent, an average of just 1.1 percent a year a number far below the increase in the cost of living during the same period. It is estimated that the current Medicare fee cuts will cost doctors around $7 billion in 2002. Across the nation, physicians are scrambling See scramble. to find ways to make up for this lost income. Some doctors have opted to reduce the number of patients they see and boost their incomes by charging steep fees for plush services and amenities that are typically not covered not covered Health care adjective Referring to a procedure, test or other health service to which a policy holder or insurance beneficiary is not entitled under the terms of the policy or payment system–eg, Medicare. Cf Covered. by third-party payers. These "concierge" services include round-the-clock cell phone access to physicians, home visits, health club and spa services. There are some primary care physicians who are going to extraordinary lengths to coordinate the care their patients receive, even to the extent of accompanying them on their visits to specialists. These added services do not come cheap. In Boston Boston, town, England Boston, town (1991 pop. 26,495), E central England, on the Witham River. Boston's fame as a port dates from the 13th cent., when it was a Hanseatic port trading wool and wine. Having recovered from a decline in the 18th and 19th cent. , two physicians announced plans to charge their patients $4,000 annually for a long list of services in addition to what health insurance pays for their medical services. The doctors expect the number of patients they see to fall dramatically, from thousands to a few hundred. But the doctors contend the new arrangement will enable them to give their patients the kind of care they have always dreamed about providing. James A. Hawkins is a health care writer based in Aiken, S.C. He can be reached by phone at 803/414-2062 or by e-mail at hir@ix.netcom.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion