Proposed Medicare, Medicaid Cuts may Force Docs to Stop Seeing Patients

US lawmakers have for sometime now been struggling with facts and figures on how to cut federal spending by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years.
There are proposals to cut Medicare and Medicaid programs that could make it impossible for many hospitals to remain profitable and force doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients.
As part of a deal struck earlier this month to raise the nation's debt ceiling, a bi-partisan "supercommittee" has until Nov. 23 to make recommendations for spending cuts. If Congress cannot agree on a plan, automatic spending cuts will begin in 2013 - including a 2 per cent reduction in Medicare reimbursements to hospitals and health care providers.
That change will result in the loss of $1.3 billion for Pennsylvania hospitals alone over a nine-year period, according to Michael Strazzella, vice president of federal relations for the Hospital and Healthsystems Association of Pennsylvania.
But proposals being studied to avoid the automatic cuts may end up being worse for hospitals, doctors and patients, experts said. Suggestions include:
A 30 per cent cut to Medicare reimbursements to physicians, which many doctors say would force many in their ranks out of business.
Converting Medicaid to a block grant program, which would cut Pennsylvania's share of federal funding by about 31 per cent.
In late December, President Barack Obama signed legislation renewing the region's wage index set under 2003's Medicare Modernization Act, which allowed area hospitals to retain more than $34 million in Medicare.The act increased Medicare reimbursements to area hospitals by about 8 percent, elevating them to what hospitals in the Allentown/Easton areas receive. The fix helps local hospitals offer wages comparable to hospitals in Allentown, Easton and even parts of New Jersey, Mr. Strazzella said, but needs to be extended each year by legislators.