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AMA survey, GAO report show contrasting affect of Medicare cuts

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, August 2, 2006

Nearly half (45%) of physicians surveyed by the American Medical Association (AMA) say they will decrease or stop seeing new Medicare and TRICARE patients if Congress proceeds with a 5% decrease in Medicare physician payments scheduled to take effect in 2007, according to an AMA press release. But a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicates such a drastic effect may not occur.

"Medicare payments will be cut 37% over the next nine years, while at the same time the cost of caring for patients will rise 22%," AMA Board Member Jeremy Lazarus, MD, said in the press release. "Unfortunately, cuts to Medicare will force physicians to make difficult practice decisions."

However, a report released by the GAO concluded that recent cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates have yet to significantly limit beneficiaries' access to care. Since 2000, only 7% of beneficiaries reported a major access difficulty, and less than 4% of physicians stopped taking new Medicare patients, the study found.

Click here to read the AMA press release.

Click here to access the GAO report.

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