A 10-percent cut in Medicare reimbursements for doctors is scheduled for January. That has the AARP of Tennessee asking its members and all Medicare patients to contact their Congressmen and tell them to stop it.
In years past Congress has prevented the mandated reductions in Medicare after enough prodding. The AARP and the Tennessee Medical Association say if the payments are reduced, some doctors will likely close their practices to new Medicare patients.
Representatives of the groups answered questions at the Madison Station Senior Center (today/yesterday.) Several in the audience had experienced being dropped by a doctor because their only insurance coverage is from Medicare. After having heart surgery two years ago, Faye Gross says she was told to find another doctor. Gross says if that were to happen again, her health would be put in jeopardy.
“Well, you know I’m on a very balanced formula of medicine to keep me alive. You know, I’m walking around with four blockages and they’ve kept me alive for four years like this. So, it’s scary.”
A spokesman for Vanderbilt University Medical Center says while the hospital expects to lose 5-million dollars a year on the payment reduction, the hospital has no plans to limit how many Medicare patients it serves. But other doctors warn those in private practice will be faced with a choice of losing money to see a Medicare patient or not seeing them at all.
The effects of the Medicare payment cut could have wide-ranging effects in Tennessee. Some one-million in the state rely on the program for health care coverage.
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