KrisIDAHO DOCS ON TRACK TO SEE MASSIVE MEDICARE PAY CUT IN 2010
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
IDAHO DOCS ON TRACK TO SEE MASSIVE MEDICARE PAY CUT IN 2010
AARP Urges Senators Crapo & Risch to Support Legislation to Preserve Access to Doctors for Millions of Older Americans
BOISE, Idaho – With a near 22 percent cut in Medicare payment rates to doctors for 2010 on the horizon, Idaho’s 213,000 beneficiaries may soon find their doctor can’t afford to see them. For the influx of Medicare eligible state retirees who will soon lose their state health insurance in January of 2010, the issue could prove devastating. It’s a problem that can be avoided and AARP Idaho is calling on Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch to support legislation to do just that.
“Idaho state retirees are set to join hundreds of thousands of older Idahoans already in Medicare, if this issues doesn’t get tackled now, we’re sending them into a broken program, where they may not even be able to see their own doctor,” said Jim Wordelman, AARP Idaho State Director. “We’re calling on Senators Crapo and Risch to stand up for the elderly residents in Idaho and support legislation to preserve access and choice under Medicare.”
AARP is backing Senate Bill 1776, the Medicare Physician Fairness Act, which will replace the currently flawed formula with a new system to ensure physicians are paid fairly so they’ll not only continue to treat existing Medicare patients, but will also accept new patients.
Over the last seven years, Congress has passed legislation seven times to override the flawed Medicare physician payment formula; the legislation would permanently address the problem.
“It’s time to end the band-aid approach to helping older people get the care they need under Medicare,” added Wordelman. “Coupled with news of severe state budget cuts to key programs that allow older Idahoans to get health care in the community, this issue, if left unaddressed, could pull the rug out from beneath many of our state’s elderly.”
Roughly 75 percent of all Idahoans covered by Medicare used the program to visit their physicians in 2006, while about 30% percent are at or near the federal poverty, leaving them with little to no access to health care services if their doctor won’t accept the program.
####
There are no comments for this item.
journal Details
Added: Oct 22, 2009
Views: 35
Comments: 0
Bookmarks: 0
Views: 35
Comments: 0
Bookmarks: 0
Groups
No groups selected.
Tags
No tags selected.
