Many of your peers are say they will reduce their Medicare patient loads or drop out of Medicare completely if Congress doesn’t remove the 30% sustainable growth rate (SGR) pay cut set to hit in 2012, according to a study released by the Medical Group Management Association(MGMA) Monday.
“Our data reflects a dire Medicare environment for physician practices,” said Susan Turney, MD, MGMA’s president and CEO. “The SGR is a runaway train that threatens the future of Medicare.” The Oct. 24-released study polled more than 2,176 practices in which more than 93,000 physicians practice from mid-September through mid-October.
Nearly all of the survey’s respondents (95.3%) all of the practice’s physicians currently participate in Medicare, however, only 26.9% said they will continue to have everyone enrolled should the cut go through. Another 29.4% aren’t sure whether or not they’ll be enrolled in Medicare.
Practices have already begun taking precautionssuch as delaying purchasing equipment, reducing staff salaries and benefits as well as downsizing staff in order to prepare for the looming SGR cut, the study reports. Should the cut materialize, the fabric of these businesses will take a greater tolls. Thirty percent of physicians even said they will delay getting an electronic health records system should their reimbursements get slashed.
Over half (51%) of providers plan to reduce new Medicare patient appointments, while 30.9% will stop taking new Medicare patients entirely, according to the study said. Also, about 35% of providers will reduce their current Medicare patient load.
“Physician Medicare participation rates mask the tremendous uncertainty and difficult decisions being made by group practices due to the pending SGR cuts,” Turney said. “Medicare’s tenuous state is putting patients at risk and forcing physicians to make painful access choices to keep their doors open. If the cut occurs it’s going to be extremely difficult for patients to find physicians who are able to accept new Medicare patients.”