Good Luck Getting ‘Affordable Care’ With Democrats’ Latest Medicare Maneuver

The Federalist ^ | 09/30/2022 | DEANE WALDMAN

[DFG]

The Biden administration announced it would again reduce payments to Medicare physicians, this time by 8.42 percent. According to a recent survey, 92 percent of medical group practices report that Medicare payments do not cover the cost of providing care.

The federal government can stay in business when it takes in less revenue than it expends. Why? Because it can print money and no one else can. To stay in business, physicians will have to reject Medicare patients; access will decrease once again. And with Democrats pushing legislation like the wrongly named Inflation Reduction Act, things will only get worse.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) took $716 billion from Medicare to pay for non-medical, bureaucratic spending. Before the ACA, the average maximum wait time to see a primary care doctor was an unacceptable 99 days. After Obamacare was implemented with its cuts to physician payments, wait times increased to a medically unconscionable 122 days. Patients have to wait four months to find out if belly pain is gas, an ulcer, or cancer. With the latest round of cuts, the wait times could stretch from months to years.

In hearings prior to the passage of the ACA, Robert Moffit of the Heritage Foundation warned Congress, “You can’t get more of something by paying less for it.” Democrats disregarded this obvious economic truism in 2010 and are doing so again in 2022.

[GOPJ]

...is a grandfathered Plan F supplemental which basically pays for anything that Medicare doesn’t and there really isn’t a copayment.

I have the exact same 'Plan F' - never have to worry about seeing a doctor of my choice - or having to worry about co-pays or any hospital costs. All excess charges are paid... so sorry to see them scrap the plan for new retirees.

[clearcarbon]

"Before the ACA, the average maximum wait time to see a primary care doctor was an unacceptable 99 days. After Obamacare was implemented with its cuts to physician payments, wait times increased to a medically unconscionable 122 days."