Here we go. At least now we know...

[2121115]

At least now we know and we can prepare to take the hit rather than guess what the hit may be. What ever you are making, chop off 6%, then do it again the next year, then again the next. Then don't count on anything you have been lucky enough to glean from the CLFS. Maybe there will be volume changes too though, since all specialty physicians will be hit as well.


"The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has finalized recommendations for Congress to repeal the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) physician payment formula. These recommendations include replacing the repeal with a 5.9% payment reduction to specialty physicians under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for each of the three initial years, followed by a freeze in payment rates for seven years. Medicare payment rates for primary care physicians would be frozen for 10 years, according to the final recommendations approved by the 17 members at the Oct. 6 meeting of the independent Congressional agency. In addition to these recommendations, MedPAC Commissioners also offered a list of offset options, should Congress decide to offset the costs of the SGR repeal. This list includes reducing clinical laboratory service payments for 10 years, which is estimated to yield $21 billion in savings."

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[Enkidu]

At least now we know and we can prepare to take the hit rather than guess what the hit may be. What ever you are making, chop off 6%, then do it again the next year, then again the next. Then don't count on anything you have been lucky enough to glean from the CLFS. Maybe there will be volume changes too though, since all specialty physicians will be hit as well.


"The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has finalized recommendations for Congress to repeal the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) physician payment formula. These recommendations include replacing the repeal with a 5.9% payment reduction to specialty physicians under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for each of the three initial years, followed by a freeze in payment rates for seven years. Medicare payment rates for primary care physicians would be frozen for 10 years, according to the final recommendations approved by the 17 members at the Oct. 6 meeting of the independent Congressional agency. In addition to these recommendations, MedPAC Commissioners also offered a list of offset options, should Congress decide to offset the costs of the SGR repeal. This list includes reducing clinical laboratory service payments for 10 years, which is estimated to yield $21 billion in savings."

At least the job market will improve. Probably a lot fewer people will want to go into medicine altogether, much less pathology.

 

[2121115]

At least the job market will improve. Probably a lot fewer people will want to go into medicine altogether, much less pathology.

More like hiring will decrease, IMO. Unless old timers start retiring due to the cuts (unlikely).

 

[Entgegen]

Heard about this a week or so ago. Not that it's much consolation, but these are just recommendations at this point and is no more a sure-thing than the 30% SGR cut. Rumblings on other medical forums seem to think this will be kicked down the road much like the SGR cuts, and things may not truly happen so close to an election year. Thing is, all this will have to come to a head eventually...

 

[Thrombus]

At least the job market will improve. Probably a lot fewer people will want to go into medicine altogether, much less pathology.

Job market will get worse my friend. Much worse. That 6% every year actually translates to a bigger % each year of one's profit margins.

 

[pathstudent]

Job market will get worse my friend. Much worse. That 6% every year actually translates to a bigger % each year of one's profit margins.

Basically an 18% drop in revenues across the board for all non-primary care docs. Don't they realize pathology is basically primary care!

 

[DIce3]

The pathology job market is terrible and will continue to free fall for years to come.

 

[Enkidu]

Basically an 18% drop in revenues across the board for all non-primary care docs. Don't they realize pathology is basically primary care!

What do you mean about pathology and primary care? Because of CP laboratory tests?

 

[2121115]

Heard about this a week or so ago. Not that it's much consolation, but these are just recommendations at this point and is no more a sure-thing than the 30% SGR cut. Rumblings on other medical forums seem to think this will be kicked down the road much like the SGR cuts, and things may not truly happen so close to an election year. Thing is, all this will have to come to a head eventually...

I think there is a lot of truth in what you are saying. I assume this will get lobbied enough to be modified at least somewhat. The AMA is a powerful lobby, but maybe not as much as it once was. Basically specialty docs are looking at an 18% cut rather than 30%, but 18% is still pretty significant.

As for the job market, this will only hurt it. I doubt private groups will be hiring with a near 20% revenue drop on horizon over the next 3 years. And that drop doesn't even account for the new bundled payment models of Obama-care that will also devalue pathology services. As for academics, academic departments cannot absorb an almost 20% across the board revenue drop either, since they pay their pathologists the same way PP's do- out of AP billing. It will probably hurt the more junior attendings more, since I doubt any department chairs are going to agree to take the hit.

Hopefully this can be modified before being passed.

 

[Entgegen]

The AMA seems pretty limp. One organization that's putting in a valiant effort on behalf of physicians is docs4patientcare.org. They're a little small, but I think they're gaining more and more members.

 

[pathstudent]

The AMA seems pretty limp. One organization that's putting in a valiant effort on behalf of physicians is docs4patientcare.org. They're a little small, but I think they're gaining more and more members.

The AMA is run by a bunch of internists so they will not fight that hard a cut to specialists.

The pc on a breast biopsy is about 35. Cut that down 20% and you get 28. Diagnosing breast cancer is less valued than an oil change or having your lawn mowed or toilet unjammed.

And don't forget that even though private insurance pays more than Medicare (barely) all insurance reimbursement is tied to Medicare rates so a 18% drop in Medicare means an 18% drop in private insurance reimbursement and a huge windfall for private insurance companies.

This will be a huge blow to private groups. Academic departments will be able to weather it a bit better due to other sources of revenue but it will be noticed.