Medicare Update: Medicare Pay-Cut Delay Passes House

[CountAllVotes]

Posted December 13, 2010 10:01 AM

Medicare bill to delay an impending sharp cut in pay for doctors and threatened to disrupt care has passed the House. The bill is action to prevent a scheduled 25 percent pay cut to doctors.

The prevent the cuts will cost taxpayers about $19 billion paid for by shifting money from the health care overhaul law. The money will also come from tightening tax credit rules.

The vote was previously approved by the Senate and overwhelmingly passed in the House at 409-2. President Barack Obama called it "an important step forward to stabilize Medicare."

For too long, we have confronted this recurring problem with temporary fixes and stopgap measures," Obama said. "It's time for a permanent solution that seniors and their doctors can depend on, and I look forward to working with Congress to address this matter once and for all in the coming year."

Read more: http://www.thirdage.com/news/medicare-update-medicare-pay-cut-delay-passes-house_12-13-2010#ixzz185aWZrqe

This is sickening to think they want to cut what doctors get for taking Medicare.

Perfect example: An elderly person I know has some serious eye problems and went to a local physician because of a pain issue that suddenly appeared. The physician spent 45 minutes testing out this person's eyes to make certain that there were no new problems (which luckily there were not). The physician got a whole $20.00 for seeing/treating said patient and this was before the proposed 25% cut!

I have noted that the doctors aren't encouraging patients on Medicare to come in for appointments and are doing their best to not see them and to resolve as many problems over the telephone rather than have the person come in and see the doctor to get checked out. :mad:

MEDICARE FOR ALL YOU BARK? A great idea perhaps but how much longer are physicians going to take Medicare with such low payment rates? They are too low already. Decreases down the road will make that $100.00 a month folks are paying practically useless being fewer and fewer doctors are taking any new patients on Medicare. :(

If Medicare is not free and is mandated by many insurance plans when the person is eligible to enroll in it; this is indeed forcing a person to pay for the insurance like it or not.

Part A does not cost anything, but Part B, the part that most people need to use is the part that pays for doctors visits, etc. So, you enroll and pay whether you like it or not as otherwise that employer sponsored health insurance is revoked and you end up with nothing if this is the case. That is right - NOTHING.

We can do better than this can't we? YES WE CAN!!! (you would think huh?)


:dem:

[anamandujano]

1. I'm embarrassed to say

I laughed when I heard of the proposed pay cuts. Actually, I heard it was a freeze on raises.

Let me explain. I absolutely want healthcare and Medicare for all. The problem is that too many people take up a doctor's time with things that should be settled out of office. This would free the crucial resources for those that are really ill.

I have been warring with my mother's Medicare doctor's. They have shown themselves to fall somewhere between drone and incompetent. And yes, I've put in complaints at the highest levels. I'm not saying that all are like this. This only explains my reaction to the pay cuts.

In addition, in the early 80's, one of my roommates who compulsively read all newspapers (obviously better informed than me) lobbed me a story about a doctor's strike. The news emerged that a significant percentage of people did not die during the strike. There was no other way to account for the figures except less poking and pill pushing by the doctors.

[freshwest]

2. There have already been serious problems with the rate of reimbursement in many states...

Doctors in some regions tell patients flat out that they are not going to take them on if they have Medicare. Because they can't keep their practices going with too great a percentage of them. Even if the patient is willing to pay more out of their own pocket, it's not allowed by law. If they have secondary insurance, it may or may not cover the gap.

In some specialties and some regions people cannot get an appointment to see a doctor, period, unless they can find one who is willing to lose the money. They can't all afford to do that.

If a patient's doctor gets sick or retires, they have difficulty getting transferred to another doctor. Records get lost and they get lost in the shuffle. If a person is disabled themselves without family to help them negotiate getting to doctors far away or deal with being turned away, they simply go home and let whatever is going to happen, happen.

This is more drastic, but this pattern has been going on since Newt Gingrich and his midnight closed sessions to cut benefits from Medicare without debate. Killing people off slowly and quietly. There seems to be no end to this for those seriously ill.

For those who are still in reasonable health, everything must be done to maintain that health. I don't believe, unless things are turned around a great deal, or universal coverage is enacted without a profit motivation involved, that the system will improve.