Could the fiscal cliff hit Medicare doctors the hardest?

While the United States is days away from the new budget, many of the doctors serving Medicare are most worried about how hard it will hit their bottom line.  As we draw closer to January 1, many fear that it's the Medicare budget that will be hit the hardest, leaving physicians without $10,000-$35,000 of their current pay after a 27% cut in the budget.  While this has been a temporary cut in the past years, a stopgap is unlikely this time.  Forbes reports that in addition to the physicians, Health Plans could be affected with doctors withdraw from them because they can't afford to keep running at the reimbursement rate the government can provide.

During the Stars Summit at The Medicare Congress 2013, the session Survive A Dip In Reimbursement Rates will look at how plans can prepare for lower reimbursement rates, which may become a reality after Congress decides on the plan of action to avoid the fiscal cliff.  For more information on this session and the rest of the program, download the agenda.  If you'd like to join us this February at The Medicare Congress, register and mention code XP1807BLOG and save 15% off the standard rate.

What do you think the ultimate impact on plans will be if doctors bottom lines are hit with up to a $35,000 loss in their reimbursement rates?

Where can Medicare spending be cut?

Recently, the Washington Post took a look at how the US Government has worked to cut $360 billion from their healthcare budget:

What the government is proposing to do is transition Medicare over to a Part D type Drug Pricing Program in order for Medicare subscribers to have access to their drugs at a lower price. with this move, it is projected that the government will save $156 billion over 10 years. The other major cut will be to what is paid to post-care facilities such as nursing homes and by cutting $63 billion, although not elaborating exactly where the cuts will come from.

This February at The Medicare Congress, Court Houseworth, Managing Director, Cain Brothers and Chris Rigg, Senior Analyst, Managed Care, Susquehanna Research Group will be on hand to present "Wall Street Report: The Economic Outlook for Medicare" which will examine how the Affordable Care Act will impact the coming year of Medicare along with how the Fiscal Cliff cuts will impact the way Medicare works.  To find out more about this session, download the agenda. If you'd like to join us February 11-13, 2013 in Phoenix for this event, as a reader of this blog when you register and mention code XP1807BLOG, you'll save 15% off the standard rate!

AMA speaks out about cuts to Medicare

With Congress poised to cut 30% of Medicare's budget for the 2011 year, many doctors and associations are reaching out and asking Congress to reevaluate their budget cuts. According to DotMed News, The cuts will leave many doctors underfunded, with little capital to pay their employees salaries and invest in cutting edge technology that will aid their care of patients.

The letter the AMA sent to Congress included:
"[T]hese steps did not protect physician practices from all the consequences of the repeated Congressional delays. Many practices were forced to seek loans to meet payroll expenses, lay off staff or cancel capital improvements and investments in electronic health records and other technology. Furthermore, when payments resumed, many physicians experienced long delays in receiving retroactive adjustments."

Can the US public afford to have Congress cut funding for Medicare?