As physicians whose practice spans the entire spectrum, from primary care to surgery, we hear stories from patients every day about the difficulty of accessing high-quality healthcare. how. Especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the fragility of our nation’s healthcare system, patients increasingly face long delays in efforts to secure the services they need. essential – from preventive visits to life-changing activities. Physician facilities are being consolidated or closed, and offices that may have remained open have not been able to secure enough staff.
According to a September 2021 survey by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), 73% of healthcare facilities said staffing is the biggest challenge of the pandemic occurring in 2022, creating the disconnect between our healthcare system and patient access. This has resulted in long waits for appointments and delays in treatment. Furthermore, the lack of access to care disproportionately affects the most vulnerable members of our society, many of whom already face issues of equality. about health. A study from August of this year found that the majority of people who delay care in the US by 2021 said they have at least one pre-existing medical condition that could be exacerbated by the delay in care.
What is needed to correct this worrisome trend? Improved and prioritized investment in the physician workforce across the US and appropriate Medicare payments.
Over the past two decades, Medicare and Medicaid investments in physician services have been either fixed or, in some cases, reduced. This is happening even as the cost to practice has continued to rise dramatically. A study by the MGMA this year found that 90% of medical facilities reported rising costs faster than revenue. Physicians’ practice can’t keep up with inflation, which is at a multi-decade high, let alone making costly innovations to improve patient care.
This we know to be true: Continuing financial challenges, administrative burdens and staff shortages, coupled with outdated Medicare payment policies, make it harder for doctors to maintain operate and serve their communities. Many state Medicaid agencies, managed care plans, and private payers base their rates of payment on the Medicare physician fee schedule. Insufficient Medicare payment rates lead to underpayments between payers and patient populations. In contrast, other non-scientific areas in healthcare are seeing significant increases in payments and receiving positive Medicare updates that reflect rising costs.
The challenges associated with these outdated policies are about to get worse. An overall cut of nearly 10% is expected to be applied to doctor payments by January 1, 2023. The cuts stem from a complex set of budgeting rules and flaws. The system in the Medicare physician fee schedule, if left unaddressed, will continue to plague physicians for years to come. These include a budget-neutral requirement for Medicare that stipulates that any increase in payments for certain physician services must be offset by cuts elsewhere. The cuts are exacerbated by the fact that Medicare’s doctor payment rates are not adjusted for inflation – an issue that hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other organizations run by Medicare. pay not face.
Together, our teams represent more than 370,000 physicians and we care for millions of patients each year. It is important to address this, and we invest in ensuring that we have a workforce of doctors ready to care for the next generation. We cannot simply rotate funding without addressing the underlying problems.
The call to action is clear: Congress must act to protect patients’ access to care by halting payment cuts that will take effect in January. And then legislators need to provide aggressive annual payments updates that account for the increased costs and move us toward a more sustainable Medicare payment system. Only then can we protect our operations and ensure that patients get the care they need and deserve.
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