RSS FeedBand-Aid for a Broken Neck?
10 March 2010As discussed in a previous DhD post, thousands of physicians were preparing to stop seeing Medicare patients if the scheduled March 1 Medicare cuts were not prevented by Congress. The good news is, those cuts have been (temporarily) delayed, until at least April 1, with efforts being made to hold them off even further until October 1.
Many medical professionals and consumers are wondering if this constant cycle of delays, temporary bills, and new deadlines will ever end for physicians and their Medicare patients. Why does the government continue to apply a band-aid to the problem, when obviously more permanent action is needed? This makes about as much sense as sticking a band-aid on a patient’s broken neck and hoping for the best.
According to FierceHealthcare, the AMA is urging the Senate to take more permanent, definitive action to prevent the 21 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursements. Otherwise, thousands, perhaps millions, of Medicare patients could be turned away by their physicians in boycotts partially orchestrated by AMA members and leaders, according to CNN.com.
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