Will the 21 percent cut in Medicare payments coming this month force many doctors to boycott Medicare patients in order to survive? That is a question that thousands of American doctors are pondering as the U.S. Congress deliberates whether or not to allow a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to go into effect. In fact, the cuts were already supposed to go into effect, but the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has put a hold for 10 business days on physician Medicare claims, thus giving the U.S. Congress a little bit more time to act. It is thought the the U.S. Congress simply cannot allow these cuts to go into effect, but so far they have not acted.
And what if they don’t?
It could literally force many U.S. doctors into bankruptcy and many others would be forced to shut their practices.
For example, CNN recently interviewed Dr. William Schreiber, a primary care physician based in North Syracuse, New York. According to CNN, his practice will be absolutely devastated if Congress allows these cuts to go through….
Schreiber sees 120 patients a week. About 30% of them are enrolled directly in Medicare, while another 65% have private insurance plans that peg their payments on Medicare’s rates. Only 5% pay on their own.
As a result, Schreiber expects the cuts to take away $3 out of every $5 he currently earns. And, as a primary care physician, he already wasn’t earning anything near the salary of a specialist.
Are you starting to get the picture?
These Medicare payment cuts would crush the American Dream for thousands upon thousands of U.S. doctors.
So why isn’t Congress doing anything yet?
Money.
These cuts were originally passed as part of a deficit-reduction measure.
The reality is that U.S. government spending is wildly out of control, and cuts need to come from somewhere.
But if these Medicare cuts are allowed to stand, it will literally be catastrophic for doctors across the United States. Just check out what the doctor in the following YouTube video has to say about what these cuts would mean….