Doctors May Be Forced To Drop Medicare Patients

Doctors across the state are worried a political game in Washington may force them to drop Medicare patients. They say unless Congress takes action, they may be forced to take drastic measures.

News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports the deadline passed on Tuesday as a bill stalled in the senate to block Medicare reimbursements. Now doctors are getting less money, which means taking Medicare patients is bad for business.

More than 39 million seniors or disabled use Medicare, that's one in every seven Americans. But a showdown in Washington has doctors concerned those patients may be forced to find new ways to get medical treatment.

"This is very serious, if we don't get this straightened out there's going to be a real shortage in doctors who see Medicare patients," said Dr. Lynn Frame of the Tulsa County Medical Society.

The battle stems over how much money doctors should be reimbursed by Medicare. A bill before Congress would have blocked a 10% drop in reimbursements. It never made it through the Senate, failing by one vote. Doctors say if the 10% cut is not changed it won't be worth it to accept Medicare patients.

"I can't spend a dollar to make fifty cents," said Dr. Frame.

They're also worried about the ripple effect. Insurance carriers use Medicare as a guide for how much they reimburse. Christy Vanderbilt acts as liaison between Medicare and small medical practices across Oklahoma.

"It's not going to impact just Medicare patients, it will affect any patient that has an insurance carrier that bases their reimbursement off a Medicare based fee schedule,' said Vanderbilt of OK Medical Group Management Association.

Two Oklahoma Senators voted against bill.

Republicans Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe say this is a case of election year politics. They say the Republican version of the bill is much better for doctors and patients.

Dr. Frame isn't concerned with why the bill failed; he says the political games are trivial compared to the health of his patients.

"Trouble is our patients are caught in the middle and I politicians playing politics with my patients," said Dr. Frame.

Senator Inhofe's office says Congress will be back in session on Monday after the holiday and will revisit the issue. They think it will all be resolved and fees paid retro-actively.