To protect doctors, patients, rein in Medicare panel

[Guest guest]

To protect doctors, patients, rein in Medicare panel

Independent Payment Advisory Board's cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates will

drive land doctors out of business

By Gene M. Ransom III May 23, 2011

The federal health care reform law establishes a new body, called the

Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), responsible for enforcing the annual

spending cap in Medicare. The IPAB will consist of 15 presidential appointees

and will start making changes to Medicare in 2015. The fundamental problem with

this system is there is little recourse in the event IPAB makes a bad decision.

The panel's recommendations automatically become law unless Congress overrides

them through a three-fifths vote or passes an alternative set of cuts that hit

the same spending targets. Neither patients nor doctors can appeal an IPAB

decision. The primary cost-cutting tool available to IPAB is broad reductions to

reimbursement rates of select providers that participate in Medicare — chiefly,

physicians. The IPAB's powers also include the ability to cut reimbursements in

the Medicare drug benefit. This power is cause for concern, as it could result

in critical medical decisions falling into the hands of nonphysicians.

IPAB isn't able to look to benefits, deductibles or co-payments for savings, so

one of the more likely targets becomes reimbursement rates. Reductions in

Medicaid reimbursements over the years have made it impossible for many

physicians to break even on patients enrolled in that program, and they've

reacted by simply leaving Medicaid entirely. Such cuts will have a similar

effect in Medicare. Patients will face a shortage of doctors and compromised

quality of care — making a bad situation even worse...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-doctor-payments-20110523,0,1\

874215.story

[Guest guest]

This part of what's called "obamacare" should be dropped. The end result is that Medicare recipients once again get the shaft. The voting public needs to know about this backhanded and somewhat dishonest move to cut Medicare.

We must be the change we wish to see in the world.

Mohandas K. Gandhi

From: rumjal <rumjal@...>Flu Sent: Mon, May 23, 2011 6:24:08 AMSubject: [Flu] To protect doctors, patients, rein in Medicare panel

To protect doctors, patients, rein in Medicare panelIndependent Payment Advisory Board's cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates will drive land doctors out of businessBy Gene M. Ransom III May 23, 2011The federal health care reform law establishes a new body, called the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), responsible for enforcing the annual spending cap in Medicare. The IPAB will consist of 15 presidential appointees and will start making changes to Medicare in 2015. The fundamental problem with this system is there is little recourse in the event IPAB makes a bad decision.The panel's recommendations automatically become law unless Congress overrides them through a three-fifths vote or passes an alternative set of cuts that hit the same spending targets. Neither patients nor doctors can appeal an IPAB decision. The primary cost-cutting tool available to IPAB is broad reductions to reimbursement rates of select providers

that participate in Medicare — chiefly, physicians. The IPAB's powers also include the ability to cut reimbursements in the Medicare drug benefit. This power is cause for concern, as it could result in critical medical decisions falling into the hands of nonphysicians.IPAB isn't able to look to benefits, deductibles or co-payments for savings, so one of the more likely targets becomes reimbursement rates. Reductions in Medicaid reimbursements over the years have made it impossible for many physicians to break even on patients enrolled in that program, and they've reacted by simply leaving Medicaid entirely. Such cuts will have a similar effect in Medicare. Patients will face a shortage of doctors and compromised quality of care — making a bad situation even worse...http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-doctor-payments-20110523,0,1874215.story