Medicare Physician Payment Cuts and Patient Access Advice
If physicians quit seeing Medicare patients, then patients must be more selective in choosing their medical providers.
Online, November 9, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Nicholas Newsad, MHSA, the senior analyst of the national surgery center company Health Inventures and author of The Medical Bill Survival Guide -- published by Westminster Cambridge Conglomerate, predicts that a major consolidation of physician practices is about to occur.
"Physicians saw the twenty-one percent (21%) Medicare cuts coming and many ran for the hills," said Newsad. "Less than half of physicians own their own practices now. According to an MGMA survey last year, sixty-five percent (65%) of physicians who changed positions became hospital employees and nearly half of new physicians chose hospital employment over private practice."
Newsad predicted physician employment and practice consolidation trends in The Medical Bill Survival Guide while instructing distressed patients on how to best access charity care and financial aid. He advises patients in financial distress to screen out physicians and providers that don't offer financial aid in advance of treatment.
"I tell patients that physicians employed by not-for-profit hospital have to honor the same charity care and financial assistance policies as the hospitals," said Newsad. "You are more likely to access charity care if the physician is employed by a hospital with a charitable mission like 'furthering the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, regardless of ability to pay'. The same applies to Medicare patients who just want to be seen."
If patients can't see a physician employed by a not-for-profit hospital, Newsad says they should go to a large medical group because groups of physicians pooling their resources are in a better financial position to offer financial aid, charity care, and see Medicare and Medicaid patients than most solo practice physicians.
"It's becoming very difficult to be a solo practice physician," said Newsad. "More are choosing hospital employment and a better lifestyle over self-employment. Medicare and Medicaid growth may force them out of business."
It's estimated that another 22 million people will enroll in Medicaid in 2014. By 2019, forty-two percent (42%) of all Americans will be enrolled in either Medicare or Medicaid. Even if Congress postpones the physician Medicare cuts again, more physicians may use the interim period to negotiate the sale of their practices to hospitals or major medical groups.
The The Medical Bill Survival Guide provides patients with easy, effective strategies for dealing with overwhelming medical bills. This book is published by the Westminster Cambridge Conglomerate and is available from all major book retailers and Amazon.com.