Doctors Are Opting Out of Medicare

[toomuchtime_]

EARLY this year, Barbara Plumb, a freelance editor and writer in New York who is on Medicare, received a disturbing letter. Her gynecologist informed her that she was opting out of Medicare. When Ms. Plumb asked her primary-care doctor to recommend another gynecologist who took Medicare, the doctor responded that she didn’t know any — and that if Ms. Plumb found one she liked, could she call and tell her the name?

Many people, just as they become eligible for Medicare, discover that the insurance rug has been pulled out from under them. Some doctors — often internists but also gastroenterologists, gynecologists, psychiatrists and other specialists — are no longer accepting Medicare, either because they have opted out of the insurance system or they are not accepting new patients with Medicare coverage. The doctors’ reasons: reimbursement rates are too low and paperwork too much of a hassle.

When shopping for a doctor, ask if he or she is enrolled with Medicare. If the answer is no, that doctor has opted out of the system. Those who are enrolled fall into two categories, participating and nonparticipating. The latter receive a lower reimbursement from Medicare, and the patient has to pick up more of the bill.

Doctors who have opted out of Medicare can charge whatever they want, but they cannot bill Medicare for reimbursement, nor may their patients. Medigap, or supplemental insurance, policies usually do not provide coverage when Medicare doesn’t, so the entire bill is the patient’s responsibility.

The solution to this problem is to find doctors who accept Medicare insurance — and to do it well before reaching age 65. But that is not always easy, especially if you are looking for an internist, a primary care doctor who deals with adults. Of the 93 internists affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Hospital, for example, only 37 accept Medicare, according to the hospital’s Web site.

Two trends are converging: there is a shortage of internists nationally — the American College of Physicians, the organization for internists, estimates that by 2025 there will be 35,000 to 45,000 fewer than the population needs — and internists are increasingly unwilling to accept new Medicare patients.

In a June 2008 report, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an independent federal panel that advises Congress on Medicare, said that 29 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries it surveyed who were looking for a primary care doctor had a problem finding one to treat them, up from 24 percent the year before. And a 2008 survey by the Texas Medical Association found that while 58 percent of the state’s doctors took new Medicare patients, only 38 percent of primary care doctors did.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/business/retirementspecial/02health.html

 

[Meister]

The left wingnuts thinks that the AMA rules the profession, when in fact only around 25% are members of the group. Just ask your own doctors what they think of what's coming down the pipeline, and most would be very surprised at the negative response.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Meister, you have queried the entire medical profession? Go to, bub.

 

[Meister]

Meister, you have queried the entire medical profession? Go to, bub.

I've "queried" enough to formulate an educated opinion. You on the other hand, can do no more than troll. Your brain, is a brain wasted, Jake. Your relatives probably thought you had potential at one time. Now they are just sorely disappointed.

 

[The Rabbi]

Let's see: you cut someone's salary and instead of sitting there and working for less you stop working.
How dare those greedy doctors not sit back and take what the gov't offers them! We need to pass a selective service law to draft doctors into the new national-socialist health organization. Medicine is too important to be left to the market!

I see the Obama administration is in for a steep learning curve in economics.

 

[Conservanoid]

Medicare is socialism anyway.

 

[dilloduck]

Medicare is socialism anyway.

It is--and we already have too much of it

 

[keee keee]

I think if this horrible health care plan is made law alot of doctors will quit the profession because they want to practice medicine the way they want to and not how some pencil pushing lawmakers who knows nothing about medicine wants them to.

 

[Political Junky]

Medicare is socialism anyway.

Why didn't cons get rid of Medicare when they were in power? Could it be that they just like to bitch about it?

 

[code1211]

Medicare is socialism anyway.

Why didn't cons get rid of Medicare when they were in power? Could it be that they just like to bitch about it?

It might be that they, like I, believe that a society needs to care for the infirm, the very old and the very young. If that is the case, they would have done something like expanding the drug benefits of medicare.

Oh, Wait! They did that.

Bitching about a problem for decades without doing anything about it is the tac used by the Dems. The best part about the health care that they want to pass without reading it because the need is so great that action must be immediate, is that it won't take effect for 3 years. (?) I suppose to some, "after three years" is immediate.

After the 2010 election, it can probably be either corrected or abolished.

 

[chanel]

I saw a doc on TV who said cardiac caths cost half as much in his office as they charge in the hospital but Medicare reimburses him 70 percent less. He will no longer offer that service to Medicare patients anymore. So the govt will now pay twice as much. What efficiency!

 

[Meister]

Medicare is socialism anyway.

Why didn't cons get rid of Medicare when they were in power? Could it be that they just like to bitch about it?

Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, you can't put it back in. let's not make another mistake

 

[Political Junky]

Medicare is socialism anyway.

Why didn't cons get rid of Medicare when they were in power? Could it be that they just like to bitch about it?

It might be that they, like I, believe that a society needs to care for the infirm, the very old and the very young. If that is the case, they would have done something like expanding the drug benefits of medicare.

Oh, Wait! They did that.

Bitching about a problem for decades without doing anything about it is the tac used by the Dems. The best part about the health care that they want to pass without reading it because the need is so great that action must be immediate, is that it won't take effect for 3 years. (?) I suppose to some, "after three years" is immediate.

After the 2010 election, it can probably be either corrected or abolished.

Obviously, you don't have Medicare D. The drug companies wrote that bill,and part of the deal was that Medicare couldn't negotiate prices, thus seniors continue to pay the highest drug prices in the world.

 

[Ame®icano]

Doctors Are Opting Out of Medicare

Of course they do. If they are accepting government funding, their salaries are in danger.

 

[MajikMyst]

I saw a doc on TV who said cardiac caths cost half as much in his office as they charge in the hospital but Medicare reimburses him 70 percent less. He will no longer offer that service to Medicare patients anymore. So the govt will now pay twice as much. What efficiency!

See.. Here is the issue... What you just said is illegal.. Hospitals have to treat people reguardless of ability to pay.. So any patient will get their cath.. They will also accept what medicare or medicaid pays as it is better than nothing and it is also the law..

So this entire arguement is moot..

I am sure that some doctors don't like medicare and don't feel they are paid enough for their services.. As does every cashier that you have yelled at when returning something, or the the guy pushing the mop at night at school... Everyone at one time or another doesn't feel they are paid what they are worth or what their job demands.. Target pays it's backroom employees 20% less than avarage for a warehouse job.. Their backroom is nothing more than a warehouse.. And all those people live in poverty.. I have little sympathy for a doctor that still makes well over 200k a year.. He should try living in poverty and not get paid enough..

 

[KittenKoder]

I saw a doc on TV who said cardiac caths cost half as much in his office as they charge in the hospital but Medicare reimburses him 70 percent less. He will no longer offer that service to Medicare patients anymore. So the govt will now pay twice as much. What efficiency!

See.. Here is the issue... What you just said is illegal.. Hospitals have to treat people reguardless of ability to pay.. So any patient will get their cath.. They will also accept what medicare or medicaid pays as it is better than nothing and it is also the law..

So this entire arguement is moot..

I am sure that some doctors don't like medicare and don't feel they are paid enough for their services.. As does every cashier that you have yelled at when returning something, or the the guy pushing the mop at night at school... Everyone at one time or another doesn't feel they are paid what they are worth or what their job demands.. Target pays it's backroom employees 20% less than avarage for a warehouse job.. Their backroom is nothing more than a warehouse.. And all those people live in poverty.. I have little sympathy for a doctor that still makes well over 200k a year.. He should try living in poverty and not get paid enough..

The doctor works in a private practice, not a hospital. The hospital cannot turn people away, but private practices can, and most do not like Medicare, or even Medicade, so these patients are often forced to go to the hospital where it costs more.

 

[Ame®icano]

I saw a doc on TV who said cardiac caths cost half as much in his office as they charge in the hospital but Medicare reimburses him 70 percent less. He will no longer offer that service to Medicare patients anymore. So the govt will now pay twice as much. What efficiency!

See.. Here is the issue... What you just said is illegal.. Hospitals have to treat people reguardless of ability to pay.. So any patient will get their cath.. They will also accept what medicare or medicaid pays as it is better than nothing and it is also the law..

So this entire arguement is moot..

I am sure that some doctors don't like medicare and don't feel they are paid enough for their services.. As does every cashier that you have yelled at when returning something, or the the guy pushing the mop at night at school... Everyone at one time or another doesn't feel they are paid what they are worth or what their job demands.. Target pays it's backroom employees 20% less than avarage for a warehouse job.. Their backroom is nothing more than a warehouse.. And all those people live in poverty.. I have little sympathy for a doctor that still makes well over 200k a year.. He should try living in poverty and not get paid enough..

The doctor works in a private practice, not a hospital. The hospital cannot turn people away, but private practices can, and most do not like Medicare, or even Medicade, so these patients are often forced to go to the hospital where it costs more.

Not completely truth. Under COBRA law, emergency rooms cant turn people away. Hospitals can turn them away unless they have life threatening conditions.

 

[MajikMyst]

I saw a doc on TV who said cardiac caths cost half as much in his office as they charge in the hospital but Medicare reimburses him 70 percent less. He will no longer offer that service to Medicare patients anymore. So the govt will now pay twice as much. What efficiency!

See.. Here is the issue... What you just said is illegal.. Hospitals have to treat people reguardless of ability to pay.. So any patient will get their cath.. They will also accept what medicare or medicaid pays as it is better than nothing and it is also the law..

So this entire arguement is moot..

I am sure that some doctors don't like medicare and don't feel they are paid enough for their services.. As does every cashier that you have yelled at when returning something, or the the guy pushing the mop at night at school... Everyone at one time or another doesn't feel they are paid what they are worth or what their job demands.. Target pays it's backroom employees 20% less than avarage for a warehouse job.. Their backroom is nothing more than a warehouse.. And all those people live in poverty.. I have little sympathy for a doctor that still makes well over 200k a year.. He should try living in poverty and not get paid enough..

The doctor works in a private practice, not a hospital. The hospital cannot turn people away, but private practices can, and most do not like Medicare, or even Medicade, so these patients are often forced to go to the hospital where it costs more.

Oh!! One of those?? The one that nobody needs but for some reason everyone thinks they need?? Your right on that note.. Private docs can do what they want..

I have always found private docs to be someone what odd and useless.. I was born with congenital heart defects.. I have been a heart patient all my life.. 2 years ago I had my Aortic valve replaced.. In all my years as a patient.. I have never used a private care doc.. My current PCP work out of a clinic run by my hospital.. University of Washington Clinic.. My surgery was at the University of Washington Medical Center.. My cardiologist that monitors INR for my blood.. I am on blood thinners now cause of the valve.. He is out of a Pacmed hospital and he sent me to the UW for my surgery.. I have never used a private practice doc.. Probably never will.. I see them as being a waste to our system..

 

[MajikMyst]

See.. Here is the issue... What you just said is illegal.. Hospitals have to treat people reguardless of ability to pay.. So any patient will get their cath.. They will also accept what medicare or medicaid pays as it is better than nothing and it is also the law..

So this entire arguement is moot..

I am sure that some doctors don't like medicare and don't feel they are paid enough for their services.. As does every cashier that you have yelled at when returning something, or the the guy pushing the mop at night at school... Everyone at one time or another doesn't feel they are paid what they are worth or what their job demands.. Target pays it's backroom employees 20% less than avarage for a warehouse job.. Their backroom is nothing more than a warehouse.. And all those people live in poverty.. I have little sympathy for a doctor that still makes well over 200k a year.. He should try living in poverty and not get paid enough..

The doctor works in a private practice, not a hospital. The hospital cannot turn people away, but private practices can, and most do not like Medicare, or even Medicade, so these patients are often forced to go to the hospital where it costs more.

Not completely truth. Under COBRA law, emergency rooms cant turn people away. Hospitals can turn them away unless they have life threatening conditions.

That is dependent on the hospital.. The UW where I had my surgery is a state run and school run hospital.. As is Harbor View Medical Center.. Which is our lvl 1 trauma center for Seattle.. It is also a state run hospital and maintained by the UW. We have one private hospital, can't think of the name of it.. But it is due to close next year due to lack of business.. Everyone is going to the state hospitals.. But the private hospital can and has turned people away.. It turned a friend of mine away a long time ago.. He got bit by something on his foot and it got badly infected.. He had no isurance as he was 20 something at the time.. They turned him away and we wound up at Harbor View..

 

[Ame®icano]

See.. Here is the issue... What you just said is illegal.. Hospitals have to treat people reguardless of ability to pay.. So any patient will get their cath.. They will also accept what medicare or medicaid pays as it is better than nothing and it is also the law..

So this entire arguement is moot..

I am sure that some doctors don't like medicare and don't feel they are paid enough for their services.. As does every cashier that you have yelled at when returning something, or the the guy pushing the mop at night at school... Everyone at one time or another doesn't feel they are paid what they are worth or what their job demands.. Target pays it's backroom employees 20% less than avarage for a warehouse job.. Their backroom is nothing more than a warehouse.. And all those people live in poverty.. I have little sympathy for a doctor that still makes well over 200k a year.. He should try living in poverty and not get paid enough..

The doctor works in a private practice, not a hospital. The hospital cannot turn people away, but private practices can, and most do not like Medicare, or even Medicade, so these patients are often forced to go to the hospital where it costs more.

Oh!! One of those?? The one that nobody needs but for some reason everyone thinks they need?? Your right on that note.. Private docs can do what they want..

<bla, bla>

I deleted the part I am not answering to.

Well, they can't really do whatever they want, plus they are under hippocratic oath...

Yet, private doctors can turn away those who are not paying for their services. If government is not paying them, they can turn them away too. Just like you can't pump the gas if you dont pay, or wash the car.

Private doctors can chose preferable insurance companies, and reject others. Just as Costco wont take MasterCard or Visa. If you don't like it, don't go there.