Reform Medicaid, Medicare payments

The residents of Zion already face obstacles to accessing quality care, especially our lower-income neighbors. Over the past decade, many physicians have decided not to accept patients with Medicaid because the red tape associated with the program costs them so much administrative time and money. The result is that many folks can't get a doctor when they need one.

This is a growing problem with Medicare, as well. Medicare is a vital part of our social safety net. Most seniors rely on the program, at least in part. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) intends to cut payments to physicians next year by over 4%. Worse still, Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) budget neutrality triggers in Washington, DC will automatically cut payments by another 4%.

Payments to physicians have been in decline for years. While other Medicare providers have seen adjustments intended to keep pace with inflation, doctors have endured reductions of 50% over the past 20 years, when adjusted for inflation. All of these cuts will have the effect of restricting access to the people who need it most.

It's long past time that Congress reforms its payment model for physicians. Going forward it must tie annual payment adjustments to inflation plus the true costs of running a physician practice. More to the point, it should consider - and reward - the ways physician care saves money across the healthcare industry by, for example, reducing hospitalizations. Further reforms would shield vital healthcare services like physician care from statutory automatic cuts under PAYGO rules.

Congress must act now to save patient access to a physician.

Billy McKinney, Mayor

Zion