Some Kansas physicians limit Medicare patients
By Kelsey Ryan, The Wichita Eagle | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"I sort of inherited it. I thought about it and debated it," said Kroeker, physician-owner at
Ultimately, she decided to keep the cap.
While the number of doctors in
"Generally, we're not taking new
As a small practice, Kroeker said it's essential to have a mix of payers.
The reimbursement rate to physicians for the same service as someone who has
"It's hard to tell people 'no' based on the insurance they have," Kroeker said. "The patients are generally not surprised -- they've heard it so many times before."
Thousands of baby boomers -- those born between 1946 and 1964 -- are becoming eligible for
In
A
Roughly 135 physicians have formally opted out in
Most physicians won't formally opt out of the
"They're not announcing that they're not taking new patients. ... Many groups don't want to say they have a cap on
A 2012
For larger physician groups, it's typically easier to take on additional
Physicians have to strike a balance between care and business, since every practice has overhead, he said.
"I don't think it's a choice physicians want to make," Huser said. "Medicine is one of those very unique career areas. There's such a privilege helping people take care of their health, and there's a certain responsibility with that, but yet you have to balance it with the business side."
"Most people are comfortable with business models until you bring in health."
'Doc Fix'
For the past 12 years, physicians have faced proposed cuts in the sustainable growth rate formula, which is used to reimburse providers who care for
"That's one of the fears that has led to a portion of physicians either capping or pulling out of seeing patients with
The proposed "sustainable growth rate formula" cuts were part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The cuts -- which if put in place would now total 20 or 30 percent -- started to become a possibility in 2002 when
For the past several years, a temporary funding patch -- called the "Doc Fix" -- has been used by
But when it's applied retroactively, it delays payments and creates cash flow problems for practices.
"You have to have a certain tolerance, keep moving forward and taking care of patients and hoping the government does right," Huser said.
Along with the health industry, the
"When it comes to
"It does impact access. If you look at the
Although the numbers of physicians who take
Non-physician participation
The number of non-physicians who take
"As the population grows and ages, we're all going to be needed," said
About 85 percent of nurse practitioners see patients covered by
At GraceMed, a safety net clinic, there was a 23 percent increase in
"All of our physician and mid-level providers (other than pediatricians) are enrolled as
"This is part of our new provider process -- to ensure mid-levels as well as physicians can provide care for
Reach
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