Doctors say proposed Medicare fee idea will cut visit times, hurt patients
By Admin | November 06, 2018
For those of you who are 65 or older and covered by Medicare, medical care may soon change for the worse, as many doctors see it.
Every year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) presents proposed adjustments to the fee schedule expected to take effect Jan. 1. A recent plan that CMS is considering lays out the most significant changes in over two decades in how much the agency reimburses doctors for office visits.
Medicare now pays doctors a higher fee to do longer office visits. According to the proposed plan, doctors who participate in Medicare will be paid the same flat fee for an outpatient visit whether you go to see them for indigestion or for stomach cancer, and whether you have one chronic medical condition, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, or five.
CMS officials say the plan is an effort to reduce paperwork and give doctors more time with patients, but many physicians are worried that the changes would oversimplify payments and reduce the time your doctor can spend with you.
For more information, please read, Doctors say proposed Medicare fee idea will cut visit times, hurt patients, by Health and Science.
