Reply #23: Already a scheduled 29.5% cut to physicians next year [View All]

[Yo_Mama]

Currently, it's scheduled for January 1st, 2012. My doctor finally caved and told his staff that he could no longer accept new Medicare patients. He'll keep those he has but can no longer afford to keep taking on new patients.

What happens to the millions of aging Boomers?

Older patients generally need more careful care, longer visits, closer evaluations and much more careful medical evaluations. They're not cheap to treat if you are doing it right. At least 70% of those visits are already loss generators for the practice. Next year every single one of them will be - unless he misbills, which he is not willing to do.

There is no way businesses can afford to insure these people - they're already not hiring older people for jobs with benefits because they can't afford to pay the benefits.

So what now? Don't tell me that net costs to the system aren't going to be higher when these people can't get decent primary care.