House Republicans on March 8 released a funding bill that would let a 2.8% Medicare physician pay cut move forward.
The move has concerned many in healthcare who say cuts could hasten hospital and medical practice closures.
Five spine surgeons share their thoughts on the decision and why it worries them.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity.
George Cybulski, MD. Neurosurgeon at Northwestern Medicine (Chicago): This is typical of Congressional inaction that persists in “kicking the can down the road.” Medicare as enacted in 1965 is obsolete for the demands placed upon it by Congress without any meaningful consideration of reforming the program. As such physicians continue to adhere to our professional standards and treat patients who have Medicare in the absence of any regard for the cost of providing care.
Richard Kube II, MD. Prairie Spine & Pain Institute (Peoria, Ill.): Inflation has impacted medical businesses no differently than any other business. Additionally, COVID independently caused massive increases in overhead expenses. Margins for treating Medicare patients are already narrow, and small private practices do not have the benefit of site of service differentials that the hospital-owned practices do. It is already difficult to provide various services for Medicare patients, and we currently refer some patients out to avoid operating at a loss. This action by Congress will further limit physician choice and access to care for Medicare patients.
Lali Sekhon, MD, PhD. Spine surgeon at Reno (Nev.) Orthopedic Center: It’s just very sad. People will wonder where all the physicians went in a few years. Already most general physician visits are done by APPs. The world is changing and not in a good way. Corporate greed from payers, pharma and big hospital systems overrides physician wellness, reimbursement, patient access, affordability with lip service to quality. It’s the same song we have listened to for a decade.
Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Sinkov Spine. (Las Vegas): The additional Medicare physician reimbursement cuts will further undermine financial stability of medical practices, especially private practices and solo practitioners. Consequently, it will drive more physicians to opt out of Medicare and will reduce Medicare patients’ access to healthcare.
Christian Zimmerman, MD. St. Alphonsus Medical Group and SAHS Neuroscience Institute (Boise, Idaho): It almost seems like the norm rather than the expectation. Twenty years of declining reimbursements have pervaded healthcare and its workings. Not one specialty is exempt. I’m all in for cuts and waste disclosure in the Medicare world and returning these lost funds to the folks who need them.