Baby Boomers Worry About Medicare's Future

The majority of respondents to a recent AMA survey believe that Medicare beneficiaries will have difficulty accessing care if physician fees are cut as planned for 2007.

“Seven out of 10 Americans are not aware of impending Medicare physician payment cuts, but when told about the cuts, 86 percent are concerned that access to care for Medicare patients will be hurt,” said AMA board member William Hazel Jr., M.D., in a teleconference with reporters in which he discussed the survey results.

The survey was conducted by telephone from July 14 to 17 by Opinion Research Corporation and included 1,031 adults 18 years of age and older living in the continental united states.

“Seniors are concerned about their own access to health care services as physicians are forced to make difficult practice decisions because of Medicare cuts,” said Hazel. “Eighty-two percent of current Medicare patients are concerned about the impact of cuts on their access to health care.

“But what's really startling is the huge number of baby boomers concerned about the impact of the cuts on Medicare patients' access to care,” he said. “A staggering 93 percent of baby boomers aged 45 to 54 are concerned about the cuts impact on access to care. No doubt this grave concern reflects worry for parents who currently rely on Medicare and for [themselves as future Medicare patients].”

The poll is the latest in a campaign by the AMA to get Congress to reverse an impending 5.1 percent cut in physician payment next year (see article above). Medicare will cut physician payments nearly 40 percent over the next nine years, while practice costs are likely to increase at least 20 percent, according to the AMA.

A national survey of physicians conducted earlier this year by the AMA found that nearly half, 45 percent, will be forced to decrease or stop taking new Medicare patients if the planned cuts go through.

“Congress needs to stop the Medicare cuts and instead tie physician payments to the cost of caring for America's seniors,” said Hazel.“ Physicians are committed to caring for their senior patients, but year after year of payment cuts that fall far below practice cost increases make it difficult to continue doing so.” ▪