Fixing the Doctors Good and Hard: Impact of the Health Bills on the Medical Profession

Greg D'Angelo / October 20, 2009

While some prominent physician groups at the national level like the American Medical Association have suggested that the typical doctor on net would be better off if Congress’s health care legislation were to pass—mainly because of all the changes in Medicare payment methodology—those groups have generally failed to acknowledge a number of the critical issues. Based on the provisions of the House health care bill (H.R. 3200), here are the simple facts:

• As millions of Americans are moved from private insurance to public coverage, with the introduction of a Medicare-like public plan and a massive Medicaid expansion, once reform is fully implemented annual reimbursements to doctors could fall by $31.7 billion.

• Although the typical physician could be better off –as the AMA contends–if reform included a replacement of sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula- the formula for updating Medicare physician payment- the House legislation could reduce physicians’ annual net incomes by $9.3 billion, or roughly $13,117 per doctor. (more…)