News & Media
Opinion: Doctors Have Been Heroes During the Pandemic; Don’t Cut Their Pay
This op-ed first appeared in The Detroit News on December 4, 2021 and has been shared with permission.
When it comes to senior citizens' healthcare, we as a nation have to do better. The truth is, we’re not talking about policies or payments or politics. We’re talking about our parents, our friends, our loved ones.
Unfortunately, if Congress continues its recent pattern of issuing cuts to Medicare payments year-after-year, many health care providers may be forced out of business just as baby boomers are entering the Medicare system.
The latest round of cuts out of Washington, D.C., set for Jan. 1, could not come at a worse time for private physician practices in Michigan. On the back of a global pandemic, cuts from the federal government combined with the rising costs of supplies make the current workload in many practices untenable as we struggle to innovate and provide proactive care to our patients.
You don’t have to read the news to know how stretched our local health care systems are today. COVID-19 means patient loads are soaring, physicians and health care providers are working around the clock and patient and provider stress levels are on the rise.
Real-life heroes have emerged from physician practices and hospital wards across the state throughout the last 23 months, and our local communities have rallied around them. It’s meant the world.
Washington, D.C., hasn’t been as friendly.
If Congress does not act immediately, there is a combination of three things that will trigger a nearly 10% cut to Medicare payments to physicians starting in the new year.
First, Congress must suspend the 2013 sequester cut of 2%, which is frozen but set to return at the end of 2021. Second, the passage of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act triggered a 4% Pay-As-You-Go Act cut to Medicare payments to physicians, to the tune of $36 billion, which must be waived.
Finally, a change in the evaluation and management codes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services actually created a 3.75% cut to physicians that will start on Jan. 1.
That’s a lot of D.C.-insider talk that means physicians are in the crosshairs of big cuts at the worst possible time.
Unfortunately, next year’s steep payment cut will force too many doctors to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat. In addition to limited care, it may also mean staff reductions and practice closures, making it even more difficult for Medicare recipients to receive care.
As a physician, my goal is to provide the best care possible for my patients. I want to be innovative and at the forefront of transforming healthcare. And I’m not alone.
Congress should look to the future. Instead of slashing billions from health care, let’s reform and fix our current payment system to remedy confusing billing and programs and to account for things like rising costs of goods and inflation.
We’ve spent over a year saying “thank you” to our first responders and medical providers; now let’s show them our thanks by stopping these needless cuts.