Manipulation of the market
Just like the continued resolution of December 2024, the current budget reconciliation bill fails to address the Medicare problem that returns to doctors at under market prices. Without repair, the inevitable consequences will exacerbate the shortcomings of the doctor, the reduction of healthcare, the highest overall overall expenditure on health care and the accelerated loss of independent practices.
Of course, how do we know that Medicare’s payments to doctors are of their financial value? To start, Medicare Compensation Rates have been reduced compared to both cost of operation of medical practice and inflation.
Doctors consistently report that they are losing money facing patients with Medicare. A overview Doctors found that Medicare’s low compensation rates (68%) are a primary threat to independent practices. In terms of inflation, it increased by 34.5% since January 2016, while prices received by doctors have increased less than half – just 15.1%.
This is not due to the demand to reduce healthcare – remember the huge number of aging baby boomers looking for health care – or a huge increase in the number of specialized doctors serving patients. In fact, the level of doctors serving patients today – 25.4 active doctors per 10,000 inhabitants – decreases since 2019 and decreased by 2009 levels.
The problem is government prices below market levels. And the determination of prices below market rates cause adverse effects on our health, such as fewer doctors available to serve patients.
This raises serious health risks to patients, including longer periods of waiting for appointments, less access to special care, shorter doctor visits, a larger number of medical errors and more incorrect diagnoses or lost diagnoses. These risks are more intense for people living in rural areas, who are more likely to live in areas that are considered “medical deserts” or areas that are not adequate access to pharmacies, primary care providers and hospitals.
Medicare’s non -financial compensation system also changes the way patient care is provided. For example, in the context of the current compensation system, Medicare compensates for hospitals more than independent doctor’s offices to perform the same service. This encourages independent practices for merging with hospitals. The integration of lower cost doctor practices in higher cost hospital systems increases the overall cost of healthcare for patients and taxpayers and reduces the choice of patients.
Congress has acknowledged that there are serious consequences by government price controls, which lays down with 2.9% of the provider’s payments for most of 2024, but these payments fell on January 1st and the problem continues to hit the healthcare system.
The determination of Medicare’s incorrect compensation policy must be a top priority for Congress. The most effective reform addresses extensively the wider Medicare deficiencies by turning Medicare into a Cash -based benefit system This finances health savings accounts (HSAS) for the elderly.
This immediate payment option allows beneficiaries to receive the benefits of Medicare in the same way that the social security benefits receive. At current levels of expenditure, Medicare could give each beneficiary $ 15,150 a year to cover insurance and healthcare costs.
According to this system, patients and doctors, not bureaucrats, would take changes and prices will reflect value. Providers will have to compete and be encouraged to find new and better ways to expand value and reduce costs for patients.
The fundamental reforms that create well -functioning health care and health insurance markets will take time. Given this, Congress could act more immediately to find government payments to medical inflation and stop paying different compensation rates for the same services depending on where care is delivered.
With more aging people, taxpayers will spend more and more on Medicare and Medicaid. Unless Congress is acting shortly to stop the degradation of doctors from Medicare, they are patients who will eventually pay the highest price with less access to doctors and special and longer waiting times for life care.
