A Crisis in Medicare - Will Your Doctor Be There?

Unless Congress acts by the end of the year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will cut physician payments in the Medicare program by 10.1% in 2008 and an additional 5% in 2009. The Medicare Board of Trustees projects these cuts could snowball to a 40% cut over the next nine years. In a program that frequently doesn't pay physicians enough to cover the cost of services they provide, these cuts will force physicians to reduce the number of Medicare patients they can afford to see.
"There are very real costs like staff, and rent, and gas and electricity. As is the case in every business, if revenue doesn't cover the costs of doing that business, a responsible business owner needs to make difficult choices. Unfortunately, in this case the difficult choices we are forced to make can effect our patients' health in very negative ways." said NJAFP President Tom Bellavia, M.D., a family physician in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ.



The Medicare program provides care for 43 million elderly and disabled Americans, and with the aging Baby Boomer generation, these numbers are expected to rise rapidly over the next decade. The cuts are intended to control spending on physician services, but cutting physicians' fees does not reduce the demand for services.
"I’m worried that some physicians would be forced to close their doors to new Medicare patients, and as the population ages far too many people would be without access to primary medical care." According to Hammonton, NJ Family Physician Steve Nurkiewicz, M.D.
Cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement will have a dramatic negative impact on the ability of New Jersey’s' family physicians to not only care for their Medicare patients, but all of their patients. Most private managed care plans base their payment on a percentage of Medicare, so any decrease in Medicare payment will automatically decrease payment on the commercial side as well.
As the state's largest medical specialty organization, NJAFP promotes and assures the maintenance of high-quality health care. A constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, NJAFP provides its members with a unified voice for family medicine and continues to be one of the most patient-oriented public health groups in New Jersey.