primitives getting squeezed out

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6865750

Oh my.

The Sears, Roebuck primitive:

Craftsman (828 posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:08 AM
Original message
 
Seniors squeezed as doctors shun Medicare

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Medicare has become a scary word to the doctors at the largest private group practice in Kansas City, Mo.

It's so scary that most physicians at Kansas City Internal Medicine, with 65% of its nearly 70,000 active patients age 65 or older, have stopped accepting walk-in Medicare enrollees, said Dr. David Wilt, an internist at the group.

Wilt and his colleagues say they are shunning the area's growing senior population because they believe Medicare doesn't reimburse physicians enough to cover the cost of care.

"And if Medicare further cuts its reimbursement rates, then we'll be functioning at a loss," said Wilt.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/27/news/economy/healthcare...

First up, the primitive from southeastern Nebraska, a transplant from Pennsylvania:

TwilightGardener  (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:10 AM
Response to Original message
 
1. So the question is this: Is Medicare paying too little, or are these doctors charging too much? Edit to add: If private-practice physicians are poor business/fiscal managers, is it right that they expect Medicare and other insurance to make up for that?

Yeah.  Just like people who are poor money managers (mortgages, credit cards) expect the taxpayers to make up for it.

Craftsman (828 posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:12 AM
Response to Reply #1
 
2. The Doctors say to little

I heard teh head of the AMA last Friday railing against this.

TwilightGardener  (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:13 AM
Response to Reply #2
 
3. Well, of course the AMA is going to say that. An independent analysis would be better.

Bitwit1234 (1000+ posts)     Tue Oct-27-09 11:21 AM
Response to Reply #1
 
5. If they would drop the private companies supplying Medicare = such as UnitedHealth, they could make Medicare more acceptable to doctors and hospitals. These private companies charge much much more for their services than do straight Medicare.

Captain Hilts  (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:21 AM
Response to Original message
 
4. I'd hate to have medical care rationing in this country!

Don't worry.  Bo will take care of that.

[Carl]

TwilightGardener  (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:13 AM
Response to Reply #2
 
3. Well, of course the AMA is going to say that. An independent analysis would be better.

Probably it would also be better if education in the USA was looked at by some group other then then NEA too.

[thundley4]

SoCalNative   (858 posts)           Tue Oct-27-09 11:43 AM
Response to Original message
8. I think the bottom line is
   
they have too much student loan debt from med school, combined with too high an overhead if they have their own office, or don't make enough as part of a "group practice" to pay live the lifestyle to which they think they are entitled simply because they are doctors.

The only real money to be made these days is in specialties like plastic surgery or bariatric procedures, neither of which is usually covered by insurance.

Being a trial lawyer and suing for malpractice is highly profitable.

[Doc]

Actually Medicare reimbursemment rates are so embarassingly inadequate that I'm surprised that doctors take Medicare patients at all, and I project that if "universal healthcare" passes, and is administered in the same manner, we will see a severe shortage of physicians within two years.......the US will look much like the UK and Canada, where the bulk of their doctors are imported from second or third world countries in order to have any access at all.

doc

[docstew]

Being a trial lawyer and suing for malpractice is highly profitable.

Hence, why the only profitable sectors of medicine are cosmetic and bariatric.  They are almost always elective, hence, the standard to win a suit is higher.

[Karin]

It's a small bonfire and I see why.  The discomfort is palpable over there on this thread.  They are kind of like starting to see a small light, of why government run health care may not all be sweetness and light.  The posts are hesitant, as if it was painful to type. 

[thundley4]

It's a small bonfire and I see why.  The discomfort is palpable over there on this thread.  They are kind of like starting to see a small light, of why government run health care may not all be sweetness and light.  The posts are hesitant, as if it was painful to type. 

Case in point.

OHdem10 (1000+ posts)           Tue Oct-27-09 11:31 AM
Response to Original message
6. Did anyone ever stop to think --the reason Medicare Advantage
   
caught on--it is a way Seniors could get a Doctor.

Ohio --You can walk into an Urgent Care Clinic. "Medicare not
accepted. Urgent Care.

Doctors here pulled out of Medicare a long time ago.

The Doctors here have two complaints. Low Reimbursement rates
and Congress is always late sending payments.

This DUmmie sees the light almost. 

[JohnnyReb]

"If private-practice physicians are poor business/fiscal managers, is it right that they expect Medicare and other insurance to make up for that?"

I have the perfect business model for a doctor that plans to take care of DUmmies at a price they're willing to pay......rent a storage unit and do business out of it.

[jukin]

The answer is clear.

1. Raise taxes.
2. Make insurance more expensive.
3. Force doctors to take less money
4. Bring in third world medical staff.
5. Watch social security and medicare/medicaid go down as millions of people die.
6. Balanced budget.