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Doctors Across the Nation Drop Medicare, USA Today, June 20, 2010

Wednesday, June 23, 2010



Doctors limit new 
Medicare patients

Updated 2d 11h ago

By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY

 
WASHINGTON — The number of doctors refusing 
new Medicare patients because of low government 
payment rates is setting a new high, just six months 
before millions of Baby Boomers begin enrolling in 
the government health care program.

Recent surveys by national and state medical 
societies have found more doctors limiting Medicare 
patients, partly because Congress has failed to stop 
an automatic 21% cut in payments that doctors 
already regard as too low. The cut went into effect 
Friday, even as the Senate approved a six-month 
reprieve. The House has approved a different bill.

• The American Academy of Family Physicians says 
13% of respondents didn't participate in Medicare 
last year, up from 8% in 2008 and 6% in 2004.

• The American Osteopathic Association says 15% of 
its members don't participate in Medicare and 19% 
don't accept new Medicare patients. If the cut is not 
 
reversed, it says, the numbers will double.

• The American Medical Association says 17% of 
more than 9,000 doctors surveyed restrict the 
number of Medicare patients in their practice. 
Among primary care physicians, the rate is 31%.

The federal health insurance program for seniors 
paid doctors on average 78% of what private 
insurers paid in 2008.

"Physicians are saying, 'I can't afford to keep losing 
money,' " says Lori Heim, president of the family 
doctors' group.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 
says 97% of doctors accept Medicare. The agency 
doesn't know how many have refused to take new 
Medicare patients, Deputy Administrator Jonathan 
Blum says. "Medicare beneficiaries have good access 
to physician services. We do have concerns about 
access to primary care physicians."

The AARP, the nation's largest consumer group 
representing seniors, is taking notice. Some U.S. 
areas already face a shortage of primary care 
physicians. Policy director John Rother says the 
trend away from Medicare threatens to make it 
worse.

States are starting to see a flight from Medicare:

•In Illinois, 18% of doctors restrict the number of 
Medicare patients in their practice, according to a 
medical society survey.
Dr. Yogesh Mittal, an orthopedic surgeon in Tulsa, works on a patient who is on Medicare. Some doctors have increased the number of Medicare patients they reject due to low payment rates.
By Brandi Simons for USA TODAY
Dr. Yogesh Mittal, an orthopedic surgeon in Tulsa, works on a patient who is on Medicare. Some doctors have increased the number of Medicare patients they reject due to low payment rates.
 

•In North Carolina, 117 doctors have opted out of 
Medicare since January, the state's medical society 
says.

•In New York, about 1,100 doctors have left 
Medicare. Even the medical society president isn't 
taking new Medicare patients.

"I'm making a statement," says Leah McCormack, a 
New York City dermatologist. "Many physicians are 
really being forced out of private practice."

Florida has the highest percentage of Medicare 
patients, and most doctors can't afford to leave the 
program. But "the level of frustration has been 
higher this year than I've ever seen it before," says 
Linda McMullen of the Florida Medical Association.
  
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