Doctors going broke ( and how imminent Medicare cuts are making it worse)
I just read 2 articles that deserve attention for all of us who rely on small practice doctors.
First article:
"Half of all doctors in the nation operate a private practice. So if a cash crunch forces the death of an independent practice, it robs a community of a vital health care resource.
"A lot of independent practices are starting to see serious financial issues," said Marc Lion, CEO of Lion & Company CPAs, LLC, which advises independent doctor practices about their finances.
Doctors list shrinking insurance reimbursements, changing regulations, rising business and drug costs among the factors preventing them from keeping their practices afloat. But some experts counter that doctors' lack of business acumen is also to blame."
http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/05/smallbusiness/doctors_broke/index.htm
and what is adding to that cash crunch? Decreasing Medicare payments, set to go into effect this month.
"The payroll tax impasse in Congress has put Medicare doctors on edge over the likelihood that their pay could be slashed 27.4% in two weeks time.
Under current law, health care providers to the nation's 45 million Medicare beneficiaries -- including physicians, nurse practitioners, physical therapists and podiatrists -- face reduced government reimbursement payments on Jan. 1."
and this part:
"Federal law requires that Medicare reimbursement rates be adjusted annually based on a formula tied to the health of the economy. That law says rates should be cut every year to keep Medicare financially sound.
Although Congress has blocked those cuts from happening 13 times over the past decade, most recently on Dec. 23 with a two-month temporary "patch," this dilemma continues to haunt doctors every year."
http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/21/smallbusiness/medicare_cuts/index.htm?iid=EL
Now, look at the growing number of over 65 people who have reduced income, depend on Medicare, and depend on small dr. practices for their health services., especially those of us who live in rural/small town areas.
Not a rosy picture. Already one of the 3 dr. offices in town here is reducing staff.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Roma è in fiamme.
As long as we retain the same system and the same idiots to run it.
- Most certainly.......
He was always running incredibly late and I gave him hell for it. I was also a professional and it made me incredibly late on my end. I told him at one point I was going to start billing him for MY time when it was wasted waiting for him to show up. 
I had a great working relationship with this guy -- he was one of the best medical professionals I'd worked with. (Among other things, when the icing mechanism they gave me after the first surgery was leaking when I started using it at home....and I was by myself.....the doc himself brought me a replacement on his way home, set it up for me, got me extra pillows to raise my foot higher than I had it, etc) Even when I was regularly scheduled in the first appointment of the day at my request, he was often STILL late because he had a number of people scheduled at that time.
He explained to be way back then (early '90s) that he was seeing twice as many people as he had the year before and making the same amount as he had the year before. I can't imagine what he's having to do now!
Those who say cutting payment to doctors isn't directly affecting care and is okay truly have their heads up their asses! I worked in the medical profession for many years and I can tell you for a fact, cutting reimbursement for doctors will cut the number of Medicare/Medicaid patients seen. When I worked in a Chicago hospital, for example, my services were billed at about $150/hour (it changed, but that was the modal cost). Medicaid reimbursed $13/hour! I saw any inpatient who came onto our unit and many inpatients on consult throughout the hospital. But we were severely limited in the number of Medicaid outpatients we saw -- I frequently continued to see patients who'd been hospitalized on our unit after discharge, among others. And I was frequently referred outpatients from other departments -- the hospital limited the number I could take who were covered by Medicaid, which, along with Medicare, formed the bulk of our patient population! I guarantee, increasing Medicare cutbacks would have the same effect.
