MEDICARE AND MALPRACTICE REFORM ALERT, April 2010
Dear Patient,
MEDICARE:
Health Care Reform has been in the news lately. What you may not have heard is that Medicare reimbursements to doctors are scheduled to be cut on May 31, 2010 by 22%. Despite passage of President Obama’s recent health care reform, these cuts are still scheduled to go into effect on June 1. These cuts come up every few months or so, and Congress just kicks the can down the road a bit, but now we are potentially facing them again with no permanent solution in sight.
You might be wondering: “How could this affect me?”
The chances are very high that you fit into one of two categories: either you have Medicare (or Tricare for military families), or you know someone who has Medicare, like an older relative.
Here's the bottom line: If these changes go through, access to medical care will be severely restricted. Given the rising costs associated with running a medical practice, if these cuts go through, we will have to, as will many other doctors, stop taking new Medicare or Tricare patients.
MALPRACTICE REFORM:
Another issue that will affect Georgia patients is Malpractice Reform, also called Tort Reform.
In 2005, Georgia enacted malpractice reform which allowed costs of malpractice insurance to be more in line with costs in other states that have enacted similar reforms. As a result, more doctors have chosen to practice in Georgia, which is an issue especially here in the southwest part of the state.
For physicians, the risk of a malpractice lawsuit is not evenly spread across all specialties, but is especially high for fields such as orthopedics and spine surgery, and approximately 1/3 of all orthopedic surgeons can expect to be sued in a given year. High litigation rates jeopardize our ability to provide affordable health care, and overuse of expensive tests as part of defensive medicine is a result.
Georgia has had malpractice reform in place until the week of March 22, 2010, when the Georgia Supreme Court struck down these reforms.
Here is how the court decision may affect you:
-The cost of delivering care to patients, which includes malpractice insurance, will rise, and these costs will have to be passed on to the consumers like you and your family.
-More charges will be generated as defensive medicine will be practiced more intensively.
-For those patients who have fixed reimbursements, like those on medicare and medicaid, the number of openings for patients with those types of insurance will have to be significantly limited.
-Newly trained physicians will be less likely to choose to practice in Georgia and older physicians may choose to retire sooner. Access to care will become a problem.
The physicians of Orthopaedic Associates agree that victims of medical malpractice deserve compensation, but lack of reasonable caps incentivizes lawyers to sue doctors for staggering sums under the guise of malpractice claims, regardless of whether the patients gave informed consent and received responsible, quality care.
We are not sure what the next step will be, but hope that some legislative fix can be applied so that patients don't lose access to the medical care they so deserve.
We urge you, in the meantime, to contact your state representative to express your feelings on this issue.
In order to prevent these threats to access to medical care from becoming a reality, we need your help. We need you to contact your congressmen and state representatives right away to express your opinions on this matter.
Please call Congress today for Medicare issues and the State Legislature for Malpractice Reform issues to share your thoughts in this regard. Don't ignore this issue thinking that somebody else will take care of it. Don't wait until you or your older family member can't find medical care. Please call today.
Sincerely,
The Physicians of Orthopaedic Associates.
Congressional Contact Phone Numbers for Medicare Reimbursement Issues:
Congressman Sanford Bishop, Albany Office (229) 439-8067, Washington DC Office (202) 225-3631
Senator Saxby Chambliss, Toll Free 800-234-4208, Washington DC Office (202) 224-3521
Senator Johnny Isakson, Atlanta Office (770) 661-0999, Washington DC Office (202) 224-3643
State Contact Phone Numbers for Malpractice Reform Issues:
Governor Sonny Perdue, Office of the Governor, Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334, Phone: 404-656-1776
Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, 240 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334, Phone: 404-656-5030
Representative Winfred J. Dukes, 411-D Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334, Phone: 404-656-0127 or 920 Highland Avenue, Albany, GA 31701, Phone: 229-432-9891
Representative Bob Hanner, 512-A Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334, Phone: 404-656-7859 or 9610 Plains Highway, Parrott, GA 39877, Phone: 229-623-2841
Representative Ed Rynders, 401 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334, Phone: 404-656-7855 or 423 Martindale Drive, Albany, GA 31721, Phone: 229-888-9928 (Office), 229-436-7455 (Home)
Senator John Dickey Crosby 324-A Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334, Phone: 404-463-5258 or Post Office Box 891, Tifton, GA 31793, Phone: 229-326-6780 (Cell)
Senator Freddie Powell Sims, 305 A Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334, Phone: 404-463-5259 or, 5377 Goose Hollow Road, Dawson, GA 31742, Phone: 229-347-0251