Are Medicare beneficiaries going doctor-less?


Well, that could be rather too drastic to contemplate. So many Medicare beneficiaries are in this terrible situation where they can’t seem to find doctors who will be reimbursed. When this affects the doctors they have been seeing, it really puts the fear into them.

Bad enough that old age finds a certain security in routine and familiar faces, but to have to go looking around for doctors who are disappearing off the Medicare list can be a daunting and tiring process.

There could be over a 10% reimbursement loss in the coming year, depending on the specialty area, even though doctors are faced with increasing costs to run their practices. This would mean more doctors opting out of the system. So Medicare patients will be left with hardly any choice.

The problem is that doctors can only bill what Medicare pays them – they can’t charge more. Moves are afoot to try and initiate legislation so doctors can bill the patients for the difference. This would however mean that maybe seniors will not be able to afford the difference.

It’s a vicious cycle – Medicare reimbursement to doctors has not kept up with rising costs and doctors no longer want to run charity businesses where they are not compensated adequately for what they do. Will a ‘balance billing’ law come about? Some states are pushing for it but this may not come about if the Medicare cut does not come through and the reimbursement system is re-looked at.

Where it is felt the most is in Florida with its large senior citizen population. It’s not just the patients who are getting older – it’s the doctors too and there aren’t too many young doctors who are willing to come aboard. So it’s a question of fewer doctors for many more people.

Whether the beginning of next year will see any solutions to this problem is anyone’s guess.


Submit Your Comments or Questions Here