A recent survey released by the American Medical Association found that it is getting harder for Medicare patients to get an appointment with a doctor. According to the physicians surveyed it’s because Congress failed to pass a permanent fix for the Medicare reimbursement crisis.

The crisis is due to calculating physician pay rates by using what is called the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. This calculation causes each scheduled pay cut to be greater than the last and recent pay cuts which were postponed were scheduled to be 21.3%.

17% of the physicians surveyed, 31% of primary care physicians, have cut back on the number of Medicare patients that they treat. Even though the scheduled physician pay cuts have been postponed by Congress every year since 2003 (4 times already in 2010) they have yet to pass a permanent solution to the problem.

Physicians feel that Medicare is an “unreliable payer” due to the fact that their rates are too low and that there are still threats of future pay cuts. The AMA is launching an advertising campaign urging Americans to contact their representatives and asking them to consider a permanent solution to the problem.

Until something is done to reassure physicians concerning their Medicare reimbursements seniors may find it challenging to get a doctor’s appointment especially if they don’t already have a regular physician.  bjmdjd

Material modifications since posting: none

American Medical Association · Medicare patients · Medicare reimbursement · sustainable growth rate formula