Why shoot for par when all you get is a boogie!

On March 1st, the Federal government has decided to impose a 21% cut in physician reimbursement for any Medicare covered service. Physicians themselves have not had a pay increase since 1983 and infact reimbursement has gone down because of inflation. Anyway, if you participate in Medicare, your revenue that runs the practice is going way down. Since Medicaid is tied to Medicare and Medicaid is 60% of Medicare, Medicaid is now so low that what was left of the physicians who took it are leaving. Before the cut, Medicare was paid about 75% of what private insurance pays for your care.

So, physicians accross the country are deciding this weekend. If we participate (Par) in Medicare, you get at least the 21% cut. So if you shoot for the par, the government gives you a bogey. If you opt out, Medicare patients must pay you out of their pocket and then try to get reimbursed from the government. There is one catch, if you opt out you have to wait 2 years to opt in. Anyway, it looks like many docs are opting out. I can only imagine the outrage when all the seniors who have to pay for their care and then try to get the government to reimburse them!

It is what it is. Perhaps this is what is needed to knock some sense into Congress. People might see how screwed up the government is because now its their money that they have to get back!