September 13, 2006
Chicago Tribune
Letter to the Editor
Via e-mail
To the Editor:
A looming crisis threatens our community’s Medicare beneficiaries from having access to medical care. Unless Congress takes action soon, Medicare reimbursement to providers will be reduced by more than 5 percent next year.
What do these cuts mean for our community? Medicare payments to Illinois physicians and health care professionals will be slashed by $120 million in 2007. Over the next nine years the cuts for Illinois will snowball into an unbelievable $7.6 billion. That means that the government will reimburse about $5,000 less per Medicare patient for medical services provided through 2015. During this time of reduced reimbursements, the expenses for running a medical practice are expected to increase by 22 percent.
This clash of rising costs and decreasing reimbursements could force many doctors to quit taking new Medicare patients or even stop seeing them altogether. A recent American Medical Association study shows that 45 percent of all doctors will impose some limitations on Medicare patients because of expected cuts. This could come in the form of less time spent with patients and less investment in new technologies.
There’s still time for Congress to pass legislation to stop the cuts and reflect the actual expenses required to provide medical care for our citizens. Concerned patients should contact their members of Congress and let them know how important it is for our community to maintain access to Medicare services for our senior citizens.
Sincerely,
Peter E. Eupierre, M.D.
Dr. Peter E. Eupierre is an internal medicine specialist from Oak Brook, Illinois and is President for the Illinois State Medical Society. The Illinois State Medical Society is a professional membership association representing over 14,000 physicians practicing in all specialties statewide.
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