Final Version of House Bill Would Give Primary Care Docs a Pay Boost
Unveiled today after weeks of hearings, the bill’s provisions include:
* Increased Medicare payments to primary care physicians by 5%
* An additional 5% pay boost for primary care doctors in designated “health shortage” areas
* A restructured formula for calculating Medicare reimbursements each year
* Enlargement of the National Health Service Corps by “an amount sufficient to eliminate 40% of the estimated shortfall in primary care providers”
* New scholarships for medical students who choose primary care as a specialtyThe bill — which runs to more than 1,000 pages — would expand coverage to 97% of all Americans, leaders of the House told reporters during a Tuesday press briefing. They said a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is still forthcoming.
Lawmakers didn’t tamper with many of the original measure’s hallmark elements during its transition from draft to formal bill.
It would still create a government-run insurance plan to operate alongside private plans, it would still require most employers to provide insurance for their employees, and it would still require individuals to purchase insurance.
The final bill also ditches the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for setting physician reimbursements in Medicare, as in the draft. (See It’s Official: House Healthcare Reform Bill Scraps SGR).
I personally think that the increases for primary care are a bit too little too late. I object to many things about this bill, including the impact on the budget. Overall, though I do believe we need most of the provisions of this bill.
To me there are two keys to health care reform. The first is that coverage of the uninsured should decrease some costs for the insured. Currently we provide a significant amount of “free care” and other insurance companies all help pay for that (including Medicare).
But health care reform will not work if we do not have more primary care physicians. This bill tries to encourage primary care, but I do not believe it really goes far enough.
The fight will occur in the Senate. We will have an interesting couple of months seeing the political machinations. How will this bill fare over that time?
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Hopefully, the Senate will be more creative than simply mining the taxpayers for more cash. It seems that for the Democrates, their tool is a hammer and every problem is a nail. I don’t believe that the costs of health care reform will only be a mere $1 trillion. As is always the case, the real costs will be more and services will have to be cut or more taxes raised. The New York Times reported today that Massachusettes, of universal coverage fame, will cut the medical coverage of 30,000 residents. They don’t have enough $$$ or primary care physicians. While I am only a simple practicing physician, a recent experience showed me where I’d look first for the money. http://www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com
WOW!!! A whole 5% for primary care!!! I guess this means that they are planning on cutting payments to the specialists by 60% to make primary care a more competitive career path. What exactly is “reformed” about the healthcare system with this bill? Just a different way to bankrupt the country faster.
Why is it they couldn’t just conclude we need more primary care physicians so we should pay them like the specialists? Why expand the National Health Service Corps and provide scholarships? Just make a change in the software that sends out the checks.
I was hopeful that something meaningful would take place that would really help improve healthcare in this country. This is not it. This is not even close. It is so far off the mark and hugely expensive. Our only hope now is that it is defeated or never comes to a vote.
One guy’s opinion: I agree with the too little too late. I am an 49 year-old FP who now does urgent care– more money than primary care, much less work, especially paperwork. A ten percent raise ain’t gonna get me back to managing HTN and COPD. I’d still be making less than I am in UC.
We need more midlevels.
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