Doctors Pressing Senate To Undo Medicare Cuts

Congress returns to work this week with Medicare high on the agenda and Senate Republicans under pressure after a barrage of radio and television advertisements blamed them for a 10.6 percent cut in payments to doctors who care for millions of older Americans.

The advertisements, by the American Medical Association, urge Senate Republicans to reverse themselves and help pass legislation to fend off the cut.

How to pay doctors through the federal health insurance program is an issue that lawmakers are forced to confront every year because of what is widely agreed to be an outdated reimbursement formula. But the dispute, which showcases the continued potency of health care issues, has reached a new level of urgency this year. Some doctors are reassessing their participation in the program and powerful interests on all sides are in a lobbying frenzy.

Just before the Fourth of July recess, the House passed a bill to prevent the Medicare pay cut by a vote of 355 to 59. In the Senate, Republicans blocked efforts to take up the bill, so the cut took effect on July 1, as required by the formula. But the Bush administration has delayed processing of new claims to give Congress time to come up with a compromise.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said he planned to force another vote this week, and Democrats pressed their case over the weekend in their national radio address.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[memphispaul]

This measure is just another underhanded way to short shift military families & military retirees. Their health care system, TRICARE is based upon MEDICARE reimbursement rates. As MEDICARE rates are reduced so are the rates for military families.
So much for all of the empty rhetoric in supporting the troops.
Military personnel programs are just unneeded taxpayer expenditures for those that support this fatally flawed measure.

[mommamia526]

Democrats will be happy to know that both Obama and Senator Clinton voted for HR 6331 and against the reimbursement cut. Check the website of your senator, or the AMA patients' action website and see how he/she voted. If you disagree be certain to let your Senator know and give your reasons. If you do not agree with the vote, or that he/she did not vote, tell them to change that. That is active participation in politics. This, as someone already pointed out on this thread, is one of the first issues and tryouts that will make or break Universal Healthcare. Those who think that Universal Healthcare means that government will be practicing Medicine, think again. Medicare is NOT practicing Medicine, doctors are. Just as in other countries doctors, and not government, are practicing medicine. If YOU think it is better that paper pushers, for profit HMO's and their multi mullion dollar salaried executives, who are NOT DOCTORS , practice medicine and prescribe for you, go ahead and take out extra private insurance, become a member of an HMO, and pay through the nose. If YOU think that by paying for profit executives, who are not doctors, multi million dollar salaries, you get better medical care, by all means, go ahead. But you can still do that with Universal Healthcare. Right now I urgently need a doctor, however, I can not see that doctor! Next time it will be you, or your mother.

[mommamia526]

Doctors have been quitting for some time. Children of physicians are no longer going into the *familybusiness*. Those who are accusing doctors need to take a look at what HMO paper pushing executives make off the back of professionals (doctors) and off the back of the payers (patients). There is here also another danger of *outsourcing*. Patients are already seeking medical care elsewhere. Foreign doctors continue to come to practice in the U.S. This means that American professionals, physicians, are being reduced to *labor* hired by HMO's. We already see that former profesionals, pharmacists, are now being hired by companies such as JCPenney, and others, Walmart? To see the Medical Profession out of context of the whole is not wise. Now, here is a personal issue. I must see an endicrinologist, as I have developed diabetes, in addition to my other medical problems. I have tried now for two weeks or more to get an appointment, and am told they *already have enough Medicare patients*. Other than the paycut, doctors are quite pleased with Medicare as it functions. I am one patient participating with AMA on these issues. I am also in favor of Universal Healthcare, no Medical Malpractice insurance, which is unneeded overhead and preventive healthcare. Anyone wanting to get Medicare to work for us should look at all sides of the issues and investigate the AMA patients' action network. Also, be certain to talk to your doctor.

[emerywood]

If the Senate can cut the physician's pay, why not limit the income of big pharma, insurance companies, equipment and supplies companies, hosptals and malpractice lawyers ? That would save the country a lot more . Come to think of it, why not limit the income of Wall Street firms and big oil ? No, the purpose is not to save money, the purpose is to destroy the Medicare system.
Everybody for himself and survival of the fittest, that's the Republican agenda.

[Kassandra]

Don't cut the pay of the malpractice lawyers, for gawdsake, they are the only ones keeping the doctors from killing us all!

[Erdgeist]

The problems with healthcare system writ large are much deeper than we can imagine. Right now iatrogenic deaths are the third leading cause of death. Many doctors are just shills for the major pharmaceutical companies who pump out symptom suppressing drugs by the billions that really don't cure anything. For profit HMOs only compound the problem.

Probably the best alternative is the adoption of the German healthcare system for Americans. It was first given to German workers in the 1880s along with the German equivalent of Social Security Insurance! Germans during the Second Reich were light years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of state socialism in which corporations and workers formed a salubrious relationship for the good of the nation--not for the good of individual corporations to the detriment of the nation.

[Kassandra]

I believe it. My doctor almost killed me a couple of times these last few years. Especially the last couple of months. I think he's on drugs.

I'll pass on anything from the Nazis, however. It's just a quirk of mine.............

[mrBlue1]

I also nearly lost my life to a botched endarterectomy, only to be treated like dirt when I showed up later with the ensuing symptoms over the years. Also, They have allowed drug users' abuse of the system to destroy your chance to get any real pain relief from, say, a severe sore throat during the weekend and instead treat you like a med seeking addict for requesting a little help. Luckily, I found a couple of older VietnameseAmerican doctors who work weekends, and evenings, really LISTEN to you, and do an excellent job diagnosing and treating their patients without all the fancy office frills and expensive extras.

[Mike169]

The US has turned into a third world country thanks to those who keep bleeding it dry for their individual and corporate profits. The rich of this country no longer have any reason to protect the needy (read this as now the former "middle class"). While the Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal - it is becoming more and more evident that the rich and powerful are more equal than the rest of us.

[Kassandra]

This is a terrible thing. We already don't pay our teachers enough and now we want to cut physician's pay more too?
I'm watching doctors flee my state as it already has one of the lowest disbursement rates. My primary care Doc is so fed up with working for nothing that he's losing his mind and doesn't care anymore whether he finds out if something is wrong with me or not.
Not that I'm saying this is OK or that I understand it, he's a literal pain in the podex!

Look at what happened to that poor woman in NYC last week. If you think well trained professionals are going to work for the "higher good" when you, yourselves would be outraged if someone suggested that to YOU, well, you'll get what you pay for: nothing.

This is all about, if you read the article carefully, privatization of healthcare . Look:

"More than 10 million of the 44 million Medicare beneficiaries are in private Medicare Advantage plans offered by companies like Humana, UnitedHealth and Coventry Health Care. Many of these plans offer extra benefits like vision and dental care. But independent studies have repeatedly found that the private plans cost the government more per person than traditional Medicare."

Humana, Bill Frist's family company. Ring any bells yet.

This is Bush putting his final touches on getting rid of the "flotsam and jetsam" of society; the old and the disabled.

[mommamia526]

Medicare Advantage Plans are partially paid out of the Medicare Funds. And that while there is not enough money in the Medicare fund to properly reimburse doctors. Take a close look at some of these Medicare Advantage plans. Example, in 2002 I had my first hip replacement. WITH Medicare Advantage Insurance my Hospital deductible for that was $ 5000.-- and without it it was $ 780.--. In 2003 I had a second hip replacement, other side, and the cost had gone up. The Medicare hospital deductible was $ 840.-- that year. Just look at the numbers. If you are NOT *nuts* you will ask yourself, now why would I take out a Medicare Advantage plan? We should NOT take out these plans and we should instead push for Universal Healthcare which includes vision and dental and pharmaceuticals. It is insurance, folks, and insurance which will not drop you, as private insurance does, when you need them. If we are all insured, starting from when we go to work, we will pay less each month than we do now, and have better healthcare. We could even pay a little more into Medicare and Social Security in addition and still come out way ahead over the private healthcare insurance premiums we pay now, where we are dropped as soon as we need them, or even when we do not, and do not file, if we just go to the hospital.

[Kassandra]

Yeah, some of my friends say it costs them more to have insurance than if they didn't. Insurance has become a "protection racket" now.

I said it before and I'll say it again "Frank Nitti's dream fir the mob to go legit" has come true.

[OETKB]

This fly in the Medicare ointment is a microcosm of the coming health insurance debate. As some universal coverage goes into effect there will be perceived winners and losers. This 10% cut is not across the board but in areas where some fat could be trimmed to put it in other needed places. However without an overall approach that contains the cost of the system as a whole, there will be a plethora of groups fighting against each other. Lowered costs and more efficient delivery benefits even those who will have to take a short run decrease in income since more money is available to spend on education, transportation, and yes even less spent on their own family's health expenses. In other developed countries physicians of certain stripes make significantly lower incomes but they enjoy full health insurance, access to quality education, an adequate pension, and real vacations. When they are polled if they would trade a more luxurious lifestyle for which more hours of work are required(like we have) for the higher income with having to make deals for a decent life, they reject it.

[Graywolf48]

Those physician's in European countries that have universal health care also have a different mindset. They practice medicine as a calling to serve, not as a road to riches and social status. America professionals are driven by greed and the ingrained dogma that he who dies with the most toys wins. Oh, yes, there are exceptions, but unfortunately not many. The people of Europe, Britain, Canada and Japan are very different culturally, morally from us. They are completely different societies. There is much we could learn about so many things from the Europeans, but because of arrogance we ridicule them.

[Succatash]

I worked for 6 months in England with NHS. It was great because as a resident I had loads more independence than in US. That also means lack of supervision. My Consultant left once for three weeks and left a full Operating schedule for me unsupervised. Facility I was at depended fully on Foreign residents (India/Pakistan) to carry the workload. Good care provided but totally rationed in all areas. People in England expected that. There is no way you can provide Universal Coverage without rationing and people in US will freak. Same in US in VA system, Indian Health Service. In large VA hospitals, the residents (training physicians) basically run the Hospital.

Finally, my training took 14 years (4 college, 4 med school, 6 residency). Don't tell me to do my job for free unless you do the same!

[emerywood]

If Graywolf 48 is implying that physicians in this country are greedy while those in Europe, Canada and Japan are all altruistic. He is dead wrong ! Physicians are like any other professionals in this country. They ought to be able to make a decent living after years of schooling and training. While physicians in other countries with national healthcare are working for a salary with no overhead of their own, physicians here have to pay for office rent, malpractice insurance premiums which are exorbitant, nurses and equipments and supplies. It isn't easy just to make ends meet these days with the system controlled by HMO's, Medicare and Medicaid and other insurance companies. Physicians are being squeezed from all sides. Go and take a look and see how many happy physicians that you can find these days. If things don't improve, you may not even find a physician to see you in a few year's time. They rather move to Canada and work in their system or retire completely and do something else.

[Kassandra]

How'd you like to go to school for at least 8 years, more if you specialize, come out with 100's of thousands in debt, have other people's lives in your hands and then read the drivel you wrote above? Meanwhile having your pay cut?

[mamacat]

"$400 million every day in borrowed money for invading the wrong country, but we will balance the budget and pay for rich peoples' tax cuts by spending less on old people and relatives of veterans!" - The new Republican battle cry.

[watchingthings]

There's going to have to be alot of belt tightening while at the same time providing health care for all. The next government is going to inherit a "heck of a mess". Essential services will have to be provided with no more defecit spending. Then a law needs to be put in place to make deficit spending illegal and also a law to start paying down the debt. A few years ago [in Canada] they got deficit spending in control by putting in a law making it illegal.

[unscum]

"10.6 percent cut in payments to doctors who care for millions of older Americans"

Don't believe the American Medical Association, they don't care about the millions of Americans on or off healthcare, they just care about lining their own wallets. It's all about money for them. The AMA is one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington.

[tsloan]

I believe your accusations are misplaced....it is the health insurance people who want to line their wallets. Physicians spend 8-10 years in training, accumulating 100's of thousands of dollars in debt just to practice medicine. The old stereotype that all physicians are rich and greedy...well...that just isn't so today.

[Destin]

I agree, the lady in the news the other day that died in the waiting room after collapsing and laying on the floor for an hour, yah, they really do care about us. Just ask Dr. Frist, the midnight inserter of HMO bills while he was running the Senate. ;)

[unscum]

How about we get doctors to cut their own salaries? That would save Medicare and the entire healthcare industry to boot.

[Destin]

I'll give a big amen to that post! Good one, hehe. Yah, we should make the doc's downgrade from driving rolls royces to driving lincoln town cars or something more reasonable. Course, if they went with something even remotely fuel efficient, they could help out the climate too. ;)

[danoj]

Genius, lets penalize the doctors. Then we won't have quality doctors. They will go where the money is. That's the liberal mantra though take money from those who worked there butts off to have more and a better life, and give it away to someone else so everyone can be equaly misserable and dependent on the government.

[zaka1]

I agree with both of you. For all the money sent to Iraq, billions and billions of dollars, Medicare could have had an increase in payments to doctors. People on Medicare are already paying 20% of medical costs and have to spent hundreds of dollars on supplements for that 20% and supplements are skyrocketing as well.

[Viper]

The way healthcare works now: They mean Medicare Part B... thats all outpatient services, professional and technical components. Any non hospital service.

That covers all of the doctors pay plus all pay for all outpatient medicare technical services such as MRIs, radiation therapay, Xrays, Chemo therapy, outpatient surgery, office visits, their staffs cost ( front desk, nurses, accouning), the cost of their offices, property taxes, electrical and etc.

Its all reduced 10.6 percent, after many years of no increases/some decreases. BUT Property taxes, staff cost and electric, patient transportation have not been going down!.

All of these Outpatient rates are now linked to what insurance companies pay Providers, clinics and etc for treating patients whether medicare patients or not.

Thus such a cut means increased profits for the insurance companies which treat no one across all patients in the U.S. In otherwords Outpatient ( all non hospital services) are reimbursed at a percentage of what Medciare rates are.

The Repigs are inline with the insurance companies, that despite cuts to outpatient care of more than 50% over a decade, what they charge for their insurance keeps going up 10-15% per year. The same insurance company that cuts what it pays for these services, then send out an increased insurance coverage bill for the physician and his staff as everyone else who is buying healthinsurance. Its crazy.

Its why the majority of physicians and Fortune 500 execs what a single payer system now.


Regards

[NoblesseOblige]

Healthcare and Medicare reform is a way overdue. Every American should have access to quality and affordable healthcare. And, the medical providers should be paid fairly and equitably.

I am all for universal healthcare. What I strongly oppose are the insurance companies (the "middlemen") who profit and control who gets what and at what cost. That is wrong and immoral.

Healthcare and natural resources should be owned or controlled by the federal government--for the benefit of all--not the profiteers who control the marketplace.

You can call me a socialist or communist, that's fine by me. But, that's the way a civilized world citizen sees it.