My dad, who lives in California, received notices from two of his doctors last week saying they were no longer accepting medicare patients. I asked one of my neighbors, a physician, about it. He said he loses money on most medicare patients and it was just a matter of time before his office stopped acccepting medicare. When I asked him how long until these changes take place, he said, "Two years, maybe three." After that, he said, it will be extremely difficult for anyone on medicare to find a doctor. A few minutes ago I saw this article on Google news. ============================================= http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/20...-doctors-to-stop-accepting-medicare-patients/ In Florida, Obamacare to Cause 27% of Doctors to Stop Accepting Medicare Patients A new survey of physicians has found that 30 percent of doctors in Florida intend to place new or additional limits on accepting Medicare patients, with 27 percent altogether refusing to accept new Medicare patients, because of Obamacareâs impact on the fees that Medicare pays to providers of health-care services. =========================================== Related interesting read: http://www.physiciansfoundation.org/uploads/default/Physicians_Foundation_2012_Biennial_Survey.pdf A SURVEY OF AMERICAâS PHYSICIANS: PRACTICE PATTERNS AND PERSPECTIVES -- Over 52 percent of physicians have limited the access Medicare patients have to their practices or are planning to do so. -- Over 26 percent of physicians have closed their practices to Medicaid patients.
Not to change the subject/high jack the thread. Summer before last I was getting my annual FAA medical when the doctor told me that over the previous year. Three THOUSAND doctors nationwide stopped giving pilots FAA medicals. And this is despite the fact they do make money doing it. They're simply sick and tired of dealing with an incompetent dysfunctional federal bureaucracy.
This isn't about Romney or Romneycare. It's about the irrefutable fact that doctors, in ever-increasing numbers, are refusing to see medicare patients and nobody's doing anything about it.
It sounds like if the Obama cuts in Medicare payments to doctors goes into effect next year there won't be many doctors left who will accept Medicare patients. It's going to be a disaster. This is the $700 Billion in cuts that Obama said allows him to take that $700 Billion from Medicare and move it to help pay for ObamaCare. Does anyone really think that will work? Just cut doctor payments by $700 Billion and say, 'there, fixed that.' Reality doesn't work like that. Doctors will just quit accepting Medicare patients. ObamaCare is full of these assumptions that don't work in reality. We have to get rid of it and take a different, smarter direction.
I could be mistaken; correct me if I am - isn't liability insurance one of a doctor's biggest expenses?
One solution is to repeal Obamacare, but perhaps there are other solutions. This is a problem that has to be solved. There are tens of millions of people (voters) who have paid into the system for decades and expect to receive benefits. This probem is going to get solved one way or another. If not this election, then the next one.
Democraps won't let tort reform happen on a national level. Lawyers are a big part of the democrap party and make sure nothing happens to their ability to sue for unlimited damages and penalties.