News in brief - May 15, 2006

Medicare will go bankrupt sooner than previously thought, trustees say - Doctor sentenced in case that sparked concern about government searches

Medicare will go bankrupt sooner than previously thought, trustees say

The part of Medicare that pays for hospital care will go bankrupt in 2018, two years earlier than was projected this time last year, according to the program's caretakers. Federal actuaries moved up the insolvency date after revising the cost of caring for beneficiaries in 2005 as well as the short-term projections for what it will cost in the future.

The annual report from the Medicare trustees also had some sobering news about the outpatient side of the program, which pays for physician care with a combination of general tax revenues and beneficiary premiums. Although the trust fund is adequately financed for the next decade, continued double-digit increases in spending on physician services will cause a rapidly increased strain on government coffers and patient wallets, the report states.

In addition, these projections are "unrealistically restrained" because lawmakers are expected to prevent at least some of the nearly 40% in cumulative payment cuts coming to physicians over the next nine years, the trustees said. Absent congressional action, doctors can expect a 4.7% reduction in reimbursements starting January 2007.

Doctor sentenced in case that sparked concern about government searches

A Tennessee oncologist was sentenced in April to 15½ years in prison after a federal jury convicted the doctor of defrauding Medicare, TennCare and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee by giving patients diluted chemotherapy drugs and billing for the full amount. Young Moon, MD, was also ordered to pay $432,238 in restitution by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville. Dr. Moon plans to appeal.

The case sparked physicians' concerns that an invasive search of Dr. Moon's office in January 2002 exceeded the government's authority and violated patient privacy.

The American Medical Association and the Tennessee Medical Assn. filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Dr. Moon's motion to exclude the evidence collected during the search. But the court allowed the evidence to be used at trial.

Dr. Moon also will consider appealing the search issue, said her attorney, Nashville-based lawyer Jennifer Lynn Thompson.