June 22, 2006
Statement attributable to:
Cecil Wilson, MD
AMA Board Chair
"This study's results showing declining inflation-adjusted physician income comes as no surprise, as physicians are beset by steep cuts in Medicare reimbursement and bedeviled by decreased and delayed payments from managed care companies.
"A medical student today graduates from medical school with an average $120,280 in debt. As we try to attract the best and brightest students to medical school, these young people weigh their options and many now see that a career in medicine may not be as financially rewarding as a career as a litigator or corporate executive. We're already seeing the makings of a physician shortage, with not enough physicians to care for patients in some medical specialties and regions. The Congressionally-created Council on Graduate Medical Education has projected additional shortages in the future, and as the baby boomers age into Medicare, we need enough physicians to treat their growing health care needs.
"Many physicians are small business owners — responsible for paying nurse and administrative staff salaries, sky-high medical liability insurance and keeping the lights on and the water running. In fact, a full two-thirds of revenue into a physician office goes to paying overhead expenses.
"Over the next nine years, the government plans to cut Medicare payments to physicians 37 percent, as the costs of caring for patients rises at least 22 percent. These cuts, coupled with these new findings on sliding physician incomes, create a troubling picture for the future of patient care. An AMA survey found that if the Medicare cuts go through, nearly half of the physicians surveyed would be forced to stop taking or decrease the number of new Medicare patients they treat."
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Katherine M. Hatwell
Senior Public Information Officer
AMA Media Relations
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