CMS plans to cut anesthesiology reimbursement rates by 8% for 2021

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If not anesthesia, where should students who dislike clinic/patient contact go?

Might want to consider pathology or more likely a different career.

I frown when anesthesia is being described as being antisocial. While yes I may not wish to go as far as psychiatrists in terms of patient discourse, I am not a mechanic who is merely "working" on a car either. In fact I would argue that those of us that are affable and have good interpersonal skills make the patient at ease faster in our brief encounters and thus improve their experience. Not important you say? ... just ask your local administrator who signs most of our checks what they think of Press Ganey scores. Like it or not, they are here to stay so best start working on them social skills.

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Um, are we hangin’ out in the same place?

Especially NPs/PAs which somehow (??) get a pay raise with this. Which makes me wonder if this isn’t bogus?

Pretty simple. Very few NP/PA bill procedure codes.

Even those who work for procedure-oriented specialties generally only bill E/M codes.
 
We might be on the cusp of inflation/hyperinflationary spiral via Money printing to the tune of 7 trillion and they still find a way to decrease reimbursement because fiscal responsibility is needed for us. Lol.

Love what I do but at some point it won’t be worth it to grind daily in and out for diminishing returns and all the other headaches (lawsuits, environmental risks, etc).
 
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We might be on the cusp of inflation/hyperinflationary spiral via Money printing to the tune of 7 trillion and they still find a way to decrease reimbursement because fiscal responsibility is needed for us. Lol.

Love what I do but at some point it won’t be worth it to grind daily in and out for diminishing returns and all the other headaches (lawsuits, environmental risks, etc).

100%
 
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We might be on the cusp of inflation/hyperinflationary spiral via Money printing to the tune of 7 trillion and they still find a way to decrease reimbursement because fiscal responsibility is needed for us. Lol.

Love what I do but at some point it won’t be worth it to grind daily in and out for diminishing returns and all the other headaches (lawsuits, environmental risks, etc).
It's just another example of "Do as I say not as I do!" BS from parasitic people. It's really disheartening but not at all surprising.
 
Might want to consider pathology or more likely a different career.

I frown when anesthesia is being described as being antisocial. While yes I may not wish to go as far as psychiatrists in terms of patient discourse, I am not a mechanic who is merely "working" on a car either. In fact I would argue that those of us that are affable and have good interpersonal skills make the patient at ease faster in our brief encounters and thus improve their experience. Not important you say? ... just ask your local administrator who signs most of our checks what they think of Press Ganey scores. Like it or not, they are here to stay so best start working on them social skills.

My interpersonal skills are fine brother and I never meant antisocial. Its people complaining about their problems while being unwilling to take any personal responsibility for their life or make changes that I do not like. But I do understand your point
 
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grass is greener syndrome at its finest....because SO MANY jobs out their guarantee 300k/yr plus. :lol:
Nice straw man argument. The question was answered appropriately. I'll be happy to draw you a picture to enhance comprehension.
 
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Nice straw man argument. The question was answered appropriately. I'll be happy to draw you a picture to enhance comprehension.
I actually 100% agree with you. Just ask the 40 million plus people out of their jobs due to being "non-essential" workers. I actually would recommend doing waste management. You get to help others out because who likes a stinky drive way? stable hours, good benefits, no call and minimal stress. Unlike medicine, you can actually throw away the trash instead of receiving emails from it that tell you if you are hitting your RVU goals for the month (it was a struggle matching your pathological cynicism towards life).
 
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I actually 100% agree with you. Just ask the 40 million plus people out of their jobs due to being "non-essential" workers. I actually would recommend doing waste management. You get to help others out because who likes a stinky drive way? stable hours, good benefits, no call and minimal stress. Unlike medicine, you can actually throw away the trash instead of receiving emails from it that tell you if you are hitting your RVU goals for the month (it was a struggle matching your pathological cynicism towards life).

The last time I heard the "garbage man analogy" I fell off my dinosaur - it's been around forever. Don't assume that the carefully crafted persona I portray on the SDN is who I actually am. It ain't.
 
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I actually 100% agree with you. Just ask the 40 million plus people out of their jobs due to being "non-essential" workers. I actually would recommend doing waste management. You get to help others out because who likes a stinky drive way? stable hours, good benefits, no call and minimal stress. Unlike medicine, you can actually throw away the trash instead of receiving emails from it that tell you if you are hitting your RVU goals for the month (it was a struggle matching your pathological cynicism towards life).
Why do you say "actually not a med student but nice try" in your post here: Psych PGY-1 Considering Re-Applying For Anes - Seeking Perspectives

And then make posts clearly showing you are a rising DO 4th year here: Addressing PE and COMSAE Phase 2 103b Correlation

I'm also 99% sure of your reddit username where you are equally as aggressive and hostile. Are you just trolling there too?

What's the deal, man? Are you just trolling or are you angry some people aren't happy with their jobs and are free to speak about it in their own subforum? Why are you worried about other people's opinion of a specialty you clearly find the best option? You don't need their validation...

Do anesthesiology and be happy if it's important to you. Who cares what these people think if you vehemently disagree? Find some peace and please stop trolling threads. Good luck this cycle.
 
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Why do you say "actually not a med student but nice try" in your post here: Psych PGY-1 Considering Re-Applying For Anes - Seeking Perspectives

And then make posts clearly showing you are a rising DO 4th year here: Addressing PE and COMSAE Phase 2 103b Correlation

I'm also 99% sure of your reddit username where you are equally as aggressive and hostile. Are you just trolling there too?

What's the deal, man? Are you just trolling or are you angry some people aren't happy with their jobs and are free to speak about it in their own subforum? Why are you worried about other people's opinion of a specialty you clearly find the best option? You don't need their validation...

Do anesthesiology and be happy if it's important to you. Who cares what these people think if you vehemently disagree? Find some peace and please stop trolling threads. Good luck this cycle.
Not angry or trolling. It seems like you exerted quite a bit of effort to find out "who i am". Just sharing a different perspective. Why is it that if someone shares anything that goes against the overall tone of doom and gloom they get attacked? Let others share their opinions.
 
Not angry or trolling. It seems like you exerted quite a bit of effort to find out "who i am". Just sharing a different perspective. Why is it that if someone shares anything that goes against the overall tone of doom and gloom they get attacked? Let others share their opinions.
It took me less than 30 seconds to identify you...

And for a very aggressive poster based on your posts/comments, it's ironic you think you are being attacked. You and I don't greatly disagree on the topic at hand, for the record. There are plenty of people who aren't super cynical on this subforum too. No one said you can't share your opinion. You just seem angry for no reason.

edit: I'm not going to continue derailing the thread.
 
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It took me less than 30 seconds to identify you...

And for a very aggressive poster based on your posts/comments, it's ironic you think you are being attacked. You and I don't greatly disagree on the topic at hand, for the record. There are plenty of people who aren't super cynical on this subforum too. No one said you can't share your opinion. You just seem angry for no reason.
how exactly was i trolling or angry on this thread? do provide a quote.
 
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The last time I heard the "garbage man analogy" I fell of my dinosaur - it's been around forever. Don't assume that the carefully crafted persona I portray on the SDN is who I actually am. It ain't.
glad you are staying current. Very proud of you.
 
The last time I heard the "garbage man analogy" I fell of my dinosaur.
For good reason. Government contracts and pensions are legal highway robbery at its finest. Sanitation workers in the right liberal areas getting well into 6 figures... AS A PENSION.

Zero education, close to zero training, zero stress, zero upkeep of skills. There are a lot worse gigs than having a fat government bureaucracy overpay you and give you a hefty retirement package.

*I forgot to attach this:
 
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grass is greener syndrome at its finest....because SO MANY jobs out their guarantee 300k/yr plus. :lol:
If you are educated with just a bachelors Motivated. There are lots of jobs out there. Monster and indeed pay account managers who work from home 150-180k easy. This is just with bachelors.

teachers in bigger cities with 10 plus years experience make 100k for 9.5 months of work plus spring break and Xmas and than off plus pension.

Sure anesthesia pays well. But it’s not easy money. Easy money is not waking up at 530am and being in the hospital by 630-645 even as attending. Easy money is not doing 1 full weekend each month. 5-6 overnights each money.
 
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If you are educated with just a bachelors Motivated. There are lots of jobs out there. Monster and indeed pay account managers who work from home 150-180k easy. This is just with bachelors.

teachers in bigger cities with 10 plus years experience make 100k for 9.5 months of work plus spring break and Xmas and than off plus pension.

Sure anesthesia pays well. But it’s not easy money. Easy money is not waking up at 530am and being in the hospital by 630-645 even as attending. Easy money is not doing 1 full weekend each month. 5-6 overnights each money.
no such thing as easy money in our world. You also dont see the hardships others face in their own field and everyone loves to cherry pick a few examples and think this is the "norm". Average US household makes 60k a year. Being a physician guarantees a top 1% salary that comes with job security, something no other job sector offers. No one ever said its easy but money aint free.
 
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Would like to work from home like a lot of other careers during covid. Not possible obviously. I would be very troubled working in the field during this pandemic if I was older and had a chronic medical condition. We are actually going to be loosing some of our older partners due to early retirements related to covid.

My armed forces affiliated buddies have been getting a steady paycheck and staying at home with minimal actual work.

Anesthesia is pretty awesome, but it is not a gravy train. It takes a lot of sacrifice to do what we do. Years in school/residency, debt, time away from home, call, weekends, etc.

It was immensely better 20 years ago... or even 10 years ago.
 
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But seriously CMS, thanks for the paycut during a pandemic.
 
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It's not that I'm staying current, it's actually you recycling some trope everyone's heard a million times.
well I made it a million and one, just for you. Calm down my son. Highly doubt the persona is "well crafted"....enjoy retirement. Might be the first thing you enjoy in your life.
 

This is particularly true for EM and critical care docs who lost money during this. At least Trump wants to suspend student loan payments??

Ya it just boggles my mind how we all responded to this pandemic: turned into icu docs, AW teams, took on massive financial losses, even ran to the fire by traveling to New York and New Jersey to help out- putting ourselves and our loved ones at risk.... yet at the end of the day we get a massive CMS paycut.
Icing on the cake is the hospital systems get massive bailouts and 30k per “covid” patient. Administrators at home most of the time.

We see none of that yet we are the ones doing the work. Coorporate medicine is toxic to say the least.

I am a happy dude but I can’t wait to hang it all up and live out my retirement years at my own pace.
 
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Sheesh. It sounds hard being an internet warrior. If I expended this much energy at work I would never make it through a whole day in the or..
 
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well I made it a million and one, just for you. Calm down my son. Highly doubt the persona is "well crafted"....enjoy retirement. Might be the first thing you enjoy in your life.
There is currently no means available to detect how little I care about what you think. Like an annoying gnat, I'll be swatting you away with the "Ignore" function. Toodles!
 
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Let it go why don't you?

This is the world we live in. There are many of us in ACT practices doing everything we can to maintain the status quo or even wrestle more back from the CRNA's and busting our hump.

Seriously? How is that going for you? Losing EVERY battle in reimbursement and supervision. Let's face it...you and and your CRNA lovers are going to lead us on a path to 1:8 supervison for bottom dollar. And you have the nerve to try to belittle those of us that actually do our own cases and try to maintain this as a Physician field?!
 
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no such thing as easy money in our world. You also dont see the hardships others face in their own field and everyone loves to cherry pick a few examples and think this is the "norm". Average US household makes 60k a year. Being a physician guarantees a top 1% salary that comes with job security, something no other job sector offers. No one ever said its easy but money aint free.

Need to check your #s bro. You sure being a physician guarantees top 1%? The average physician makes over 740k a year? Even if you look at other more sources, some of which is a little bit lower, it's still way higher than average physician salary.

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The gap between wealthy and poor has gotten larger. In the past physicians were much closer to 1% than today. Average physician salary of around 200k doesnt even make top 5%.

Obviously this varies a lot from region to region. In my crappy city... top 1% is 2.2M+

"New York's top 1% earn even more: about $2.2 million on average. "
 
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Need to check your #s bro. You sure being a physician guarantees top 1%? The average physician makes over 740k a year? Even if you look at other more sources, some of which is a little bit lower, it's still way higher than average physician salary.

View attachment 315315

The gap between wealthy and poor has gotten larger. In the past physicians were much closer to 1% than today. Average physician salary of around 200k doesnt even make top 5%.

Obviously this varies a lot from region to region. In my crappy city... top 1% is 2.2M+

"New York's top 1% earn even more: about $2.2 million on average. "
According to the newest data top 1% is roughly $512,000.

However physicians roughly average $300,000 so you are correct that it doesn't guarantee being top 1%. I was using it in general terms. I worked throughout highschool and undergrad in the worst possible jobs because I had to pay my tuition off. My parents passed away when I was much younger so I didn't really have any support. My whole point is I am glad I went through the hell that is medical school because I will have a good high paying secure job and that is very hard to come by in this day and age. Am I pissed off about the CMS cuts? Oh absolutely. But compared to everything I have went through I am just very thankful.

Lastly, it would be nice to have older physicians on here mentor the new generation of docs but what most get here when they ask for advice is a derogatory tone and end up being mocked.
 
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According to the newest data top 1% is roughly $512,000.

However physicians roughly average $300,000 so you are correct that it doesn't guarantee being top 1%. I was using it in general terms. I worked throughout highschool and undergrad in the worst possible jobs because I had to pay my tuition off. My parents passed away when I was much younger so I didn't really have any support. My whole point is I am glad I went through the hell that is medical school because I will have a good high paying secure job and that is very hard to come by in this day and age. Am I pissed off about the CMS cuts? Oh absolutely. But compared to everything I have went through I am just very thankful.

Lastly, it would be nice to have older physicians on here mentor the new generation of docs but what most get here when they ask for advice is a derogatory tone and end up being mocked.

Everyone has their own situation they have to live with. It's good that you are happy with your choices though.

But yes, depending on the source and their method of calculation, it can range from 500k like you said to 700s, to be top 1%. Your link says its based on AGI, so deductions have already been taken into account [?]. If that's true actual salary will be higher to be top 1%.

Also 300k is a high estimate. Most sources say 200s. Either way, even if its 300, and top 1% is 512, it's 58% .. meaning most doctors are not in the top 1% by any means. I just want to clear it up for SDN readers who may not be clear with the #s

Lastly, ive been posting here for 12 years... i havent really experienced the mockery..
 
This thread is a dumpster fire. “Woe is me, I’m not in the 1%!”
Perhaps the high unemployment during the pandemic is getting to me, but this direction of the thread seems very tedious. It’s not like ANY of you folks are struggling to put food on the table.
 
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What was so much better 10 years ago?

Let us know in 10 years. People that "Made it and rode into the Sunset" while selling this field out to CRNAs will be the first to be on the receiving end of the high Supervision ratios they allowed in the first place.
 
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This thread is a dumpster fire. “Woe is me, I’m not in the 1%!”
Perhaps the high unemployment during the pandemic is getting to me, but this direction of the thread seems very tedious. It’s not like ANY of you folks are struggling to put food on the table.
EXACTLY. this is my whole point. Sure the cuts suck but when others on here are dissuading people not to do medicine and "do anything else" it just comes off as very pretentious because they have no clue how hard it really is in the vast majority of other fields. I also realized this huge fallacy with many docs who are bitter thinking they could have achieved top income in any other field they would have went into. Lost count of how many times I heard "just do business and make 10 times more"...
 
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This thread is a dumpster fire. “Woe is me, I’m not in the 1%!”
Perhaps the high unemployment during the pandemic is getting to me, but this direction of the thread seems very tedious. It’s not like ANY of you folks are struggling to put food on the table.

This is unfortunately the attitude that is unique to MDs and does us no favors in the long run.

Residency? Basically slave labor that allows academic hospitals to make tremendous amounts of money off our hard work. For those that fight for less work hours, better pay, better lifestyles? They are called weak and lazy.

Instead..we should be fighting to improve all aspects of our training, pay, lifestyle, benefits, etc. Every other profession does. Do you think nursing or crnas would sit back and take annual paycuts simply because they make decent salaries??

Do CEOs take annual paycuts because they already have enough money???

Its ridiculous that we should give up our time, money, liability for the sake of medicine when society and the government loves nothing more than crapping on physicians.

We should fight to improve our professional lives...not bend over and take it simply because there are worse jobs out there. Do that for long enough and our jobs will be the crappy ones...
 
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Seriously? How is that going for you? Losing EVERY battle in reimbursement and supervision. Let's face it...you and and your CRNA lovers are going to lead us on a path to 1:8 supervison for bottom dollar. And you have the nerve to try to belittle those of us that actually do our own cases and try to maintain this as a Physician field?!

Actually he didn’t belittle anyone. There is a lot of venom from those docs who do their own cases towards those who supervise.
As a doc who supervises, I have nothing but respect for those who do their own cases.

But F those docs who supervise who don’t respect us, which seems to be a decent fraction. Not all of us or even most of us are lounge sitters who race each other for the door every day.
 
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This thread was about CMS reimbursement. Does anyone care to post CMS rates from 2000 or 2001 vs 2021 then adjust for inflation? Then, compare private payer rates from 2000 to 2021. My point is the gap has widened from 3 X Medicare to 5 x Medicare rates because Medicare isn’t keeping up with the cost of living increases or inflation. Those of you who take jobs with less than 1/3 private payers are hosed without a subsidy. Those who take jobs where private payers are more than 1/2 the case mix will do very well.

In the end Vector 2 and his socialist friends will pass a single payer system. Maybe, Vector 2 is even morally right on such a system but the cost to Vector 2 on a financial level will be very high. $19 per unit will greatly impact this specialty If not decimate it under a single payer system.
 
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This thread was about CMS reimbursement. Does anyone care to post CMS rates from 2000 or 2001 vs 2021 then adjust for inflation? Then, compare private payer rates from 2000 to 2021. My point is the gap has widened from 3 X Medicare to 5 x Medicare rates because Medicare isn’t keeping up with the cost of living increases or inflation. Those of you who take jobs with less than 1/3 private payers are hosed without a subsidy. Those who take jobs where private payers are more than 1/2 the case mix will do very well.

In the end Vector 2 and his socialist friends will pass a single payer system. Maybe, Vector 2 is even morally right on such a system but the cost to Vector 2 on a financial level will be very high. $19 per unit will greatly impact this specialty If not decimate it under a single payer system.

medicare pays 19 per unit?
 
medicare pays 19 per unit?

Well, Medicaid does. Medicare is about $22-$24 a unit. It should be well over $30, if the Govt was even pretending to try and keep up with inflation over the past 10 years.
 
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Not angry or trolling. It seems like you exerted quite a bit of effort to find out "who i am". Just sharing a different perspective. Why is it that if someone shares anything that goes against the overall tone of doom and gloom they get attacked? Let others share their opinions.
It doesn’t take much effort. You have been here a month and have about 50 posts. And seem to be full of vitriol, b.s and lies.
 
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Everyone has their own situation they have to live with. It's good that you are happy with your choices though.

But yes, depending on the source and their method of calculation, it can range from 500k like you said to 700s, to be top 1%. Your link says its based on AGI, so deductions have already been taken into account [?]. If that's true actual salary will be higher to be top 1%.

Also 300k is a high estimate. Most sources say 200s. Either way, even if its 300, and top 1% is 512, it's 58% .. meaning most doctors are not in the top 1% by any means. I just want to clear it up for SDN readers who may not be clear with the #s

Lastly, ive been posting here for 12 years... i havent really experienced the mockery..
Maybe it's because you don't come here on attack mode like said person. And then complain that you are being attacked and mocked.
 
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getting back on track...
trump claims he will eliminate payroll tax for a chunk of incomes. should bode well for medicare.
 
It doesn’t take much effort. You have been here a month and have about 50 posts. And seem to be full of vitriol, b.s and lies.
still upset huh? Always having to edit your comment two or three times when you talk to me lmao. Calm down and cool off. I seriously wish you the best.
 
still upset huh? Always having to edit your comment two or three times when you talk to me lmao. Calm down and cool off. I seriously wish you the best.
Upset about what? I edit plenty of my comments. Not just yours.
What’s your point?
We can all tell you are an injured, immature, narcissistic, liar with a lot of anger who constantly goes after people.
 
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Upset about what? I edit plenty of my comments. Not just yours.
What’s your point?
We can all tell you are an injured, immature, narcissistic, liar with a lot of anger who constantly goes after people.
I'll pray for you. stop derailing this thread
 
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