By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-936143.mp3
Dallas, TX – Texas doctors and seniors worried about a December 1 cut in Medicare payments will get a one month reprieve. But KERA's Shelley Kofler reports the ongoing problem may be affecting seniors' access to care.
This week Texas doctors and advocates for seniors with the AARP have been calling members of Congress.
They've urged lawmakers to continue current Medicare payment levels before a December 1 deadline hits and reimbursements to doctors drop 23 percent.
Republican Congressman Michael Burgess of Lewisville, a doctor, says the House will vote to follow the Senate and continue current payments for one month. But that means Medicare will face another extension vote in December, the fourth this year.
Burgess says many doctors are tired of the uncertainty and are already limiting the number of Medicare patients they see.
Burgess: Patients can call up their doctors' offices now and not get an appointment. It's not that the doctors are being mean about it but they are having trouble meeting their overhead expenses. Some doctors look at that and say this is not something we should be doing.
Malone: Right now it is very hard to find a primary care doctor to take new Medicare patients.
Dr. Bruce Malone of Austin is the president-elect of the Texas Medical Associate. He says the problem began nearly a decade ago when Congress linked the Medicare reimbursement formula to the gross domestic product which doesn't keep up with doctor expenses. As these deadlines for payment cuts approach the government sometimes freezes doctor payments.
Malone: So they essentially shut down Medicare and don't make any payments to anybody. Then they come back with a temporary solution. This is frustrating to doctors and I'm sure frustrating for patients because they look at their Medicare and say I'm counting on this, but if I can't count on this how can I make an appointment with a doctor, how can I expect a doctor to take me as a patient.
Dr. Malone and Congressman Burgess both say a new, realistic funding formula is needed. They hope that in December lawmakers will adopt an extension that's long enough for Congress to dig into the problem and adopt a long term fix.