Doctors serving Medicare patients are set to receive a 27% cut in payment unless Congress intervenes at the turn of the year. University of Florida College of Medicine Senior Associate Dean Marvin Dewar says this is an ongoing problem that has been delayed for the past 8 consecutive years, and every year of delay adds more to the cut.
He says there is no way Shands or most other health care providers could sustain this large sudden cut. Dewar says both Democrats and Republicans agree there needs to be a long term solution put in place, but they differ on how to enact that change. The resulting stalemate causes problems for both care providers and patients who fear needing to find new places to receive medical care.
He expects another stop gap measure tp push the cuts another year, but says a significant structural change is needed to create a real long term solution.