Posted on 11/28/2012 3:46:44 PM PST by Seizethecarp
Dear Patient,
Going into the coming year, I have made a difficult but necessary determination that I will no longer be a Medicare provider. This will go into effect as of January 1, 2013. My decision is directly related to the continuing Medicare cuts and cumbersome requirements that Medicare has put into place. Regretfully, it is no longer feasible for us to participate with Medicare.
I took my time before telling her that we had received this letter from her very dear treating psychiatrist.
Fortunately, it was only in the past two months that after an extensive trial and error process, an "old drug" that he prescribed had a nearly miraculous effect on her and restored her to almost perfect sanity for the first time in three years.
But now, thanks to Obamacare's excessive regulations and the funding of Obamacare by squeezing payments to MD's and hospitals and paying MD's less than the cost of providing care, she will lose this wonderful MD and has no quarantee of being able to find another in or out of her plan that will take Medicare as primary.
I am sure that this little drama is being played out across the land right now.
It she had received this letter two months ago, I am sure I would have had to take her back to the locked ward! So I am thankful for the mercy that it arrived just after she regained sanity.
My Senior Parents Primary Doc's let them know they both are retiring real soon, gee I wonder why.
I am curious your wife's Doctor, do you think she is an Obee supporter given many in her field are?
“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”
But your doctor may not keep you!
Good wishes for you and your wife—it sounds like you’ve had a challenging journey.
I am so sorry.
Hopefully you will find a private agency to help you out.
I understand somewhat, I have a necessary thyroid medication that will no longer be covered by medicare.
Probably lots of stories just here on FR, however your wife is dealing with more than most can understand, prayers for you and for her.
Bless you brother.
I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR YOUR WIFE IS DOING MUCH BETTER!
Ask her doctor for a good referral physician to either another doc that takes medicare or a Community Mental Health Center that works on a sliding fee scale and has qualified doctors. It is really hard to find a doctor that is ethical and good, but they are out there and asking her doc for a referral is probably the best way to go.at least if something in the meds or whatever needs tweaking you will have already established with someone. she may also feel more secure knowing her previous doc made the referral.
Her shrink doesn’t support Barry.
God bless you and your wife. If there is a medical school near you, I would suggest you call its Department of Psychiatry to see if they have a clinic. She may get assigned to a resident who is in training or she may get into one of the private practice physicians who teach there. In any case, I would bet just about anything that they take Medicare. Good luck to you and your wife. She’s a very lucky woman to have a husband like you.
I hope your wife does okay and God gives you the strength you need to support her.
obamacare may take us to the next dark ages. he will cripple our healthcare system about the time a plague will sweeps across the nation. Just like in the olden days.
I WISH this would only happen to brain dead Libs, but alas it will be happening to all of us. When there is only Government care, there will be no Medicare, no Medicaid and no
TriCare. Just Government care. And you cannot go anywhere else for care, so, if the Government decides for whatever reason that you don’t deserve the level of care you need, you are SOL. That was always the desired end result of Obamacare. The Admin has been dismantling health care in this country since The Won took office in 2009. We are so doomed to mediocre care that mostly ends when we hit 60 years of age. You are expendable when you are no longer paying into the system.
I am hopeful that when doctors discard Medicare, their expenses may go down and are able to offer a discounted cash fee. How old is your doc? It could be he/she is retiring, or cutting back. There are 660,000 physicians in the US, and 250,000 are over 55.
Incredible isn’t it?
Also, God bless you two, true love is hard to find man!
A severely depressed, possibly suicidal patient, or paranoid patient is not going to respond well to a letter like this! It would only serve to “validate” their view of the world a seen from their diseased mind.
Bless you - I am sure it must be awfully difficult for you at times. Good luck.
Best wishes for your wife and you.
I’ve been worried about this myself, since my wife and I are both primary medicare patients with our doctor, with backup insurance from UHC.
A lot of doctors have evidently decided not to take on any NEW Medicare patients. I hope not too many will decide not to keep their current patients, as your psychiatrist has done. But Obama is screwing them all, while piling on required paperwork and reporting expenses, so we’re are all now effectively becoming reliant on our doctors’ good will—or what amounts to charity.
I hope that your wife continues to see improvement in her condition.
My wife had to change doctors because her doctor is no longer participating in TRICARE for the same reasons you described. This Obammycare is already wrecking patient care throughout the US.
Have you discussed what his cash fee might be?
Your wife is lucky to have you, but of course too many of those with such challenges don’t have that level of close support.
The medicare cuts may first be coming for the mentally ill, but they are steep enough that they will come for most other recipients as well. My hope is that we still have a good enough country not to allow the Obamcarization of our health system to continue.
I am sorry that this has happened to you, and I hope you can find a good resolution.
At the medical office where my wife works they did this 6 months ago. They refer Medicare patients to another facility. She says that it is indeed too cumbersome to get paid, and to even just get paid enough to cover costs when they do get paid.
Here is what I think will happen...Dear Leader will issue an executive order or some amendment to Ocare that forces doctors and other healthcare providers to accept Medicare, i.e. he will make it illegal not to. If he doesn’t do that, there won’t be any providers left that accept it within 2-3 years, and the only other options are then to either nationalize healthcare completely, or start building government hospitals that can provide care on the cheap.
What a mess.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.