Imagine calling the doctor only to be told 'I'm sorry. We can't see you.' That's what many doctors fear could happen to patients who are 65 and older if we hit the fiscal cliff.
"It's going to force a lot of doctors not to accept new Medicare patients and force a lot not to accept Medicare patients at all," said Dr. Michael Breiner, a Roanoke County plastic surgeon.
Family practice physician and the head of PCA private practice group in the Roanoke Valley, Dr. Edwin Polverino agreed. "It's not going to be a choice. We'll either have to cut services dramatically or we'll go out of business," Dr. Polverino said.
These doctors are talking about the proposed 26.5% cut in Medicare payments to physicians scheduled to take effect January 1st. It has doctors concerned enough that this week the Virginia Medical Society sent out an email calling on all physicians to contact their lawmakers.
It goes on to say that the cuts could create instability for physicians' practices and limit access to care for patients. So which patients will it affect? "Those are the majority of patients 65 and older," said Dr. Breiner. That includes those with supplemental insurance.
For Doctor Breiner Medicare patients make up more than 40 percent of his practice. "The patients that have skin cancer, melanoma, basal cell," Dr. Breiner said.
Dr. Polverino put it this way: "It's going to have a major impact."
Doctors say the bottom line is the bottom line. Right now doctors often just break even when seeing Medicare patients but if the cut takes effect doctors say they'll lose money on those patients, something they can't sustain.
"I just don't know how we're going to do it. We have rent. We have staff," said Dr. Breiner.
"Many of my patients have been with me since I first started practicing medicine in the valley so you continue to care for them and money is not the main motivating factor," said Dr. Polverino. "But when you get to a point where you can't keep the doors open you have no choice."
