Medicare pay cuts, access problems linked

Many physicians are not taking new Medicare patients and are cutting costs to deal with reimbursement shortfalls.

By Markian Hawryluk, AMNews staff. Sept. 9, 2002.

Washington -- Physicians have warned Congress that the prospect of four consecutive years of negative Medicare payments updates, which began this year, would impact patients' access to care. Now an independent survey of state Medicare counseling programs and advocacy groups has shown that doctors were right -- new Medicare beneficiaries are finding it increasingly difficult to find a physician.

The survey, conducted by the Medicare Rights Center, found that new Medicare patients in 15 of the 30 states surveyed and the District of Columbia reported difficulty in accessing physician care this year after payments were slashed 5.4%.

"This may be a looming emergency," said Robert Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center. "When a patient can't find a physician who accepts Medicare, the patient often goes without needed care."

In eight states -- Arizona, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia -- the survey found a higher number of calls to Medicare help lines from people who could not find doctors taking new Medicare patients. Officials from the Arizona State Health Insurance Program said many doctors considered patients they hadn't seen in the past year as new patients as well. In three states, respondents said lower payment rates drove doctors not to take new patients.

Representatives from Arizona, New Jersey, Tennessee and Virginia also reported getting a higher number of calls from patients unable to find specialists. Dermatologists, oral surgeons and psychiatrists were among the specialties most frequently cited. [...]