Unless Congress reforms physician payments, more and more doctors will hang up their stethoscopes. Patients, and taxpayers, will be left holding the bag.
The United States is facing a shortage of 37,000 physicians, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That deficit will more than double to 86,000 doctors by 2036.
Medicare’s chronically low reimbursement rates deserve at least part of the blame. According to the American Medical Association, this is the fifth year in a row that the government has cut pay for physicians who provide care to Medicare beneficiaries.
This financial strangulation is driving physicians out of independent practice and into hospitals – or early retirement – and is resulting in higher costs and longer wait times for patients. And many communities, especially in rural areas, will only face heightened difficulty accessing the doctors and care they need as shortages become worse.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
America Doesn’t Have Enough Doctors. Medicare Is Making That Worse.
Sally C. Pipes
Unless Congress reforms physician payments, more and more doctors will hang up their stethoscopes. Patients, and taxpayers, will be left holding the bag.
The United States is facing a shortage of 37,000 physicians, according to the latest research from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That deficit will more than double to 86,000 doctors by 2036.
Medicare’s chronically low reimbursement rates deserve at least part of the blame. According to the American Medical Association, this is the fifth year in a row that the government has cut pay for physicians who provide care to Medicare beneficiaries.
This financial strangulation is driving physicians out of independent practice and into hospitals – or early retirement – and is resulting in higher costs and longer wait times for patients. And many communities, especially in rural areas, will only face heightened difficulty accessing the doctors and care they need as shortages become worse.
Read the entire U.S. News & World Report op-ed here.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.