Congress has failed to find a stable and appropriate solution so that doctors can continue to care for the nation's most vulnerable patients - the elderly and people with disabilities.

Congress must act to stop Medicare payment cuts

Gary W. Floyd

Congress has failed to find a stable and appropriate solution so that doctors can continue to care for the nation's most vulnerable patients - the elderly and people with disabilities.

As physicians, we solve problems, diagnose our patients’ ailments and find cures. We establish a treatment plan.

Imagine if your problem persisted for 20 years without a solution; you could look for another doctor.

Yet every year, this is the scenario physicians face with Medicare’s failing physician payment system: For more than two decades, Congress has failed to find a stable and appropriate solution for physicians to continue. care for the country’s most vulnerable patients – the elderly and people with disabilities. .

Here we go again: Without congressional intervention in the coming weeks, doctors caring for Medicare patients will see a cumulative payment reduction of about 8.5% starting in January.

Can doctors leave the program? Yes. But most of us choose not to because we love taking care of our Medicare patients. Doctors, however – like any other business – have their breaking point. In the face of high inflation, the “Great Resignation” and ongoing pandemic pressures, that may well be it for doctors.

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