Priscilla Msaki, MBA’s Post

Wondering why you or your parent or grandparent can't find a physician who will accept Medicare? Running a practice and caring for patients is becoming unsustainable for physicians. This year’s 3.37% Medicare physician pay cut comes on top of the 2% cut physicians saw in 2023. When adjusted for inflation prior to this year’s pay cut, the payment rate to physicians who care for Medicare patients was 26% LESS than it was in 2001. Physicians fall into the ONLY GROUP that does not get an annual inflation increase to cover the rising costs of doing business. Help AMA to #FixMedicareNow by reversing these unconscionable cuts, before it is too late for your loved older family member.

The extent of physician under-payment has whole health system implication, of particular concern is the impact on brain-drain between LMIC and HIC where doctors emigrate to high income countries in order to earn what they consider to be a reasonable income. This further exacerbates health disparities (rural-to-urban migration and public-to-private migration), limits access for communities (reduced availability of doctors), and drives up costs due to need for expensive temporary staffing solutions or increased demand for overtime. The impact of often highest in already underserved communities leading to further inequities. What is often not talked about is the direct impact on doctors’ financial and emotional wellbeing. #TransformingHealthcare #CurisHealthcareSolutions

Last Friday, the Senate Finance Committee released a bipartisan white paper outlining policy concepts reforming how Medicare Part B pays physicians with the aim of improving care for those with chronic conditions and addressing challenges like provider burnout, rising practice costs, and the need for better care coordination. Proposed reforms include: - Revising Medicare Physician Fee Schedules to account for inflation, reduce payment volatility, and better reflect the costs and resources required to provide high-quality care. - Considering examining and extending hybrid payment models that combine per-beneficiary, per-month payments with traditional fee for service payments. - Promoting value-based care by increasing incentives, reducing the administrative burden, and streamlining reporting requirements for participation in alternative payment models. - Permanently extending measures that increased access to telehealth services during the COVID pandemic to maintain access to care for behavioral health and chronic disease management. 📘 Read the full white paper for detailed insights and policy recommendations. https://lnkd.in/guy35RwY #HealthcareReform #Medicare #ChronicCare #Telehealth #ValueBasedCare

An whole smorgasbord of chronic #physician beefs exposed at a Senate hearing yesterday: declining #Medicare unit pricing, #PrimaryCare vs specialist payment (there’s that annoying budget neutrality thing), the cloister of the #AMA RUC dividing up the federal physician payment pie, administrative complexity in #quality measurement & reporting, the predictable prior authorization whining, the absence of a business case for coordination of care for the chronically ill in our fragmented fee-for-service third-party-payor “system”. But don’t expect any major reforms any time soon. It’s an election year & it’s taken 15 years for the dust to settle on #ObamaCare. Meanwhile, expect all the major #healthcare players will continue to snipe at one another each while driving to consume a larger portion of the US economy.

In an effort to reform Medicare funding and avert painful cuts to physician reimbursements for services, a recently introduced bipartisan Senate bill would increase the agency’s budget neutrality threshold to $53 million. Learn more about how the bill: https://ow.ly/xRZB50SUHq9

We have seen fantastic momentum in the 118th US Congress for legislative fixes to many of the challenges community oncology and independent providers face, such as improving Medicare doctor pay, stopping PBM abuses, and reforming the 340B program. But will they see the finish line? "Members of Congress headed home for the summer over the weekend, leaving the us in an all-too-familiar position: Wondering how key priorities will turn out after lawmakers failed to address them in the first part off the year." Make no mistake about it: Congress still has a LOT of work ahead of it. We still need to see movement to improve physician payments, address cuts in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, reform #PBM practices, address #hospital #consolidation, and #fix340B to ensure the #340B program truly benefits patients in need. If they see the finish line the proposed changes before Congress could be a huge breakthrough. But nothing is guaranteed in an election year or lame duck session. That is why it is critical that independent #communityoncology practices, professionals, and patient advocates stay informed and engaged in legislative efforts to ensure that the policies we support become reality Get an update on what remains to be addressed in this piece by Alex Kacik in Modern Healthcare https://lnkd.in/etvFBsuN

It is Monday, March 18th, 2024. Good Morning! Medicare Doc Pay Cut Eased as Biden Signs Federal Spending Bill. President Joe Biden signed into law a measure that softened – but did not completely eliminate – a 2024 cut in a key rate used to determine how physicians are paid for treating Medicare patients. While physician groups hailed the move as partial relief, they say they'll continue to press for broader changes in the Medicare physician fee schedule. The Medicare provision was tucked into a larger spending package approved last week by the US House and Senate. https://lnkd.in/eHNGbgW5 #MAB #CMBS #CPSP #MARA #MedicalBilling #Billing #Reimbursement #Credentials #Training #RemoteWork #Remote

It is Monday, March 18th, 2024. Good Morning! Medicare Doc Pay Cut Eased as Biden Signs Federal Spending Bill. President Joe Biden signed into law a measure that softened – but did not completely eliminate – a 2024 cut in a key rate used to determine how physicians are paid for treating Medicare patients. While physician groups hailed the move as partial relief, they say they'll continue to press for broader changes in the Medicare physician fee schedule. The Medicare provision was tucked into a larger spending package approved last week by the US House and Senate. https://lnkd.in/eVK5rsDs #MAB #CMBS #CPSP #MARA #MedicalBilling #Billing #Reimbursement #Credentials #Training #RemoteWork #Remote

"𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦." Industry groups reacted with swift outrage when CMS issued its proposal for next year’s Medicare physician fee schedule. The agency plans to cut payment rates by 2.8%, which many argue is insufficient, especially in the context of rising inflation. Read more: https://ow.ly/XllM50SCfQM #Medicare #physicians #CMS

Rather than pushing policies that could disrupt Medicare Part D, we should focus on common-sense reforms that enhance the program. https://lnkd.in/eWpjPCaD I like common sense reforms. I'll start 1. eliminate deductibles for doctors services by changing to a copay per visit of $10. rezult increased access to primary care without large economic barriers. 3. a single fee schedule for outpatient services for physician and allied health providers. equal pay for equal work. result increase number of independent providers with lower costs. end subsidy of employed physicians.