Medicare

Current Rates, News & Information

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.

Senate Democrats dropped a plan to expand Medicare on Monday. This move was another step for the Democrats in their continued effort to pass the health care overhaul, though not everyone is happy about it.

The Basics of the Medicare Expansion and Why They Let it Go

The idea for the Medicare expansion was to allow people ages 55 to 64 buy into Medicare. While Democrats wanted to keep the expansion in the bill, they decided that the battle they faced to keep it wasn't worth holding up legislation that would overall extend coverage to tens of millions of Americans, so they dropped it.

Now that the Medicare expansion has been dropped, Democrats are that much closer to locking up the 60 votes they need to overcome the bill's Republican opposition.

What the Expansion Could Have Done for Americans

The original hope for the Medicare expansion was that the three million Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 with no coverage could finally receive affordable coverage. While those under 65 would not have received the exact same benefits as their older counterparts, they would have been able to take advantage of certain benefits at a reduced price.

Some Senators argued that those who may be missing out on the Medicare expansion could still take advantage of subsidies that would allow them to buy private insurance at a reduced price. In fact, they argued, the Medicare buy-in would have actually been redundant.

While the bill still isn't complete, the hope is that the Senate will get the bill passed by Christmas. In the meantime, we will have to wait and see what adjustments will be made and how they will affect the future of health care.

Do you think the Medicare expansion should have been dropped from the health care bill?

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