Next Payment Cut Looms!

Another cut is coming down the pipe. Will this one stick? I am not sure how willing the Federal Government, less CMS and MedPac, are willing to do what they set out to do. I think any frank understanding of the healthcare industry will show that payments are falling in order to prevent a spiraling increase in costs.
The plan cut is 6.1% overall Medicare cuts starting Jan. 1 2011. This cut will be on top of a planned cut in December, which will be a huge 23.5% cut. This is the dreaded Doc Fix, that the Democratic Congress politically put off so they could pass healthcare reform; however political wise a move, this continual impendence of making the tough decision makes individuals lose faith in the government’s ability to do solve problems. I do not think cutting payments is the right way to fix healthcare, but the Democratic leaders explicitly made plans to cut reimbursements so as to stay on track for healthcare reform (attempt to be on budget).
The overall problem needs to be a perspective change. Right now, government is attempting to attack more of the demand side, rather than the supply side. Information and understanding basic cost drivers are the essential fix to healthcare. Reducing payments only squeezes doctors and makes their life harder. If anything hurts doctors, it will probably hurt patients. What needs to be done is understand the basic inflation of costs associated with practicing medicine. Then translate that into margins and profitability. I am not calling for a new government regulation but more information needs to be provided so as doctors to patients make wise choices. A wise consumer always brings down costs and makes competition increase.
I think the healthcare system is so convoluted and lost that no one really has the time or capability to understand it. If something is complex and no one really understands the grand picture, then it will be expensive and continue to perpetuity until the information is there to increase buying power. It is simple economics.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20100712/MODERNPHYSICIAN/307129981/-1