Despite cuts, physicians still welcome Medicare patients
Physician Practice Advisor, January 11, 2006
The number of physicians accepting new Medicare patients increased between 2001 and 2005, despite congressional payment cuts during that period. According to a national study released by the nonpartisan Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), nearly three-quarters of practices surveyed were open to all new Medicare patients.
From 2004-2005, 72.9% of physicians reported accepting all new Medicare patients. Also, the study says physicians' willingness to treat Medicare patients remained high, despite a 5.4% payment cut in 2002. Not all practices took the cut in stride; 3.4% reported being completely closed to new Medicare patients in 2004-2005.
"While concerns about Medicare beneficiary access have focused on physician payment, policy makers should recognize that Medicare fees are only one factor in physician decisions to accept new patients-in other words, Medicare fees don't exist in a vacuum," said HCS president Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., in a press release on the study.
