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Super Committee To Physicians Go Texan or Go Dishwasher
Once again, the Disease Management Care Blog got it right: the prognosis for the Congressional 12-person Super Committee was only slightly better than the likelihood that the DMCB was a Justin Bieber love-child. How could the Committee ever succeed with the 13th Man being elsewhere overseas, while Dr. Krugman on the left and the WSJs editorialists on the right were both agreeing that any deal would be Satans spawn?
But if budget cutting is a good thing, why are the equity markets down? In addition to the lingering threat of an eventual Moodys downgrade, the DMCB suspects stock holders a) have calculated a $1.2 trillion budget cut was never really up to the task*, and b) fear that the 2012 Congress wont stick to its guns.
So, asks the DMCB, whats next?
Automatic cuts will be applied to discretionary federal spending as well as the defense budget. While Medicaid is spared (much to the relief of our nations governors), Medicare is facing a 2% sequestration which, because premiums and cost sharing will go untouched, translates into payment cuts for hospitals, doctors and other providers. An additionally toxic wild card is a looming additional "SGR" 27.4% Medicare physician fee schedule cut.
How will the DMCBs physician colleagues react to this dysfunction?
Not well:
1) for those in physician owned practices, it may come down to deciding whether or not to gopostal Texan.
2) for those in salaried positions, they can look forward to their Administrators turning to the "dishwasher" approach of maximizing patient throughput-dependent revenue: theres always room for a few more. And if docs expect Uncle Sam to have any sympathy, they need to think again.
Let the games continue.
(HT to George Will)
Super Committee To Physicians Go Texan or Go Dishwasher
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
 |
| Room for one more! |
But if budget cutting is a good thing, why are the equity markets down? In addition to the lingering threat of an eventual Moodys downgrade, the DMCB suspects stock holders a) have calculated a $1.2 trillion budget cut was never really up to the task*, and b) fear that the 2012 Congress wont stick to its guns.
So, asks the DMCB, whats next?
Automatic cuts will be applied to discretionary federal spending as well as the defense budget. While Medicaid is spared (much to the relief of our nations governors), Medicare is facing a 2% sequestration which, because premiums and cost sharing will go untouched, translates into payment cuts for hospitals, doctors and other providers. An additionally toxic wild card is a looming additional "SGR" 27.4% Medicare physician fee schedule cut.
How will the DMCBs physician colleagues react to this dysfunction?
Not well:
1) for those in physician owned practices, it may come down to deciding whether or not to go
2) for those in salaried positions, they can look forward to their Administrators turning to the "dishwasher" approach of maximizing patient throughput-dependent revenue: theres always room for a few more. And if docs expect Uncle Sam to have any sympathy, they need to think again.
Let the games continue.
(HT to George Will)
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