Doctors Ditching Patients Due to Medicare Payment Cuts

Posted in Health Insurance , Medicare

March 4th, 2010

Some physicians have started dropping their Medicare patients as a result of a 21 percent cut in payment rates that took effect Monday. While many doctors dont want to lose their patients, reports show that many simply cannot keep their businesses running with such a significant cut in Medicare payment rates.

Doctors Dilemmas

The major dilemma for doctors is that while they want to take care of their Medicare patients, it is too difficult to manage health care costs without receiving the same payments from the government. According to a CNNMoney.com report, some patient advocacy groups say that a growing number of doctors are boycotting against Medicare for this reason.

The problem is that this boycott doesnt just affect doctors; it affects 43 million American seniors who are currently receiving Medicare coverage.

What If Your Doctor Dropped You

If youve found that your doctor no longer will be offering services due to the cuts in Medicare payment rates then there are steps you can take to make sure youre getting the proper medical care:

• Ask for referrals: If your doctor has opted out, you could ask for referrals to doctors who are accepting new Medicare patients.
• Consider urgent care centers: If youre in between doctors, you could consider an urgent care center, which is typically a free-standing health clinic that could offer assistance to Medicare patients. However, its good to keep in mind that these centers shouldnt be used for ongoing physician care because they are not developed for such.
• Retail clinics: These clinics are usually found in stores like CVS and Walgreens. Theyre not meant to treat chronic problems but are an option for simple acute problems like sore throats.

Patients could also consider health care options for low-income patients.

The ideal recommendation would be to find another doctor who is able to accept new Medicare patients. But with health insurance rates increasing and payments being cut, it may be a difficult year for both patients and doctors.