Why did Medicare and Tricare physician payments get cut? Will this result in a decline of health care?
When all this furor started about “healthcare reform,” we veterans and military were PROMISED that the healthcare we had would not be affected by the changes.
Now this: “As of April 1, 2010, Medicare and TRICARE payments to physicians were cut by 21 percent. The reduced payment rate may result in fewer doctors being willing to accept TRICARE, which could leave millions of seniors and military beneficiaries without a primary care provider.”
What do you think?
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8 Answers
It didn’t have anything to do with reform. Each year they were giving increases on a “temporary” basis and those increases expired. At least that’s what my doctor told me.
I can tell you I lost the health care I was promised for 30 years because scum sucking executives stole the funds and put the company I worked for into bankruptcy.
I’ll take any health care Obama can arrange.
@Judi is correct. This is an old issue unrelated to recent health care reform.
The cuts are law, from a formula written into the 1997 Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate passed by the Republican Congress and signed by President Clinton.
Congress (Republicans and Democrats) passed temporary fixes in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. This year, the fix was opposed by physicians’ lobby groups and was dropped.
News to me. I wrote both my senators and my congressman, protesting loudly! : D
I wrote both my senators and my congressman, protesting loudly
I think the physicians want you to do exactly that, they want a permanent fix to the formula and are forcing the issue. Sadly, that may be necessary to get something done.
Congress keeps kicking the can down the road because a permanent fix commits them to a spending increase. The temporary fixes cost exactly the same, but they pretend otherwise.
I live in a rural area, over 2.5 hours from the nearest major city, Houston. I have cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure from Agent Orange exposure while in Vietnam for 2 years. These conditions must be monitored regularly by a doctor. My primary care physician is the only one in the small town of Nacogdoches who was willing to accept me as a patient under Tricare. I could easily wind up having to drive over 2 hours just to be seen by a doctor if this one decides we veterans are now not worth the effort.
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