Doctors struggle with Medicare

Milford, Conn. (WTNH) - Low Medicare reimbursements and the possibility of getting paid less has some doctors in Connecticut taking drastic measures when it comes to taking on Medicare patients.

Surgeon Dr. David S. Katz has a private practice which is a small business. So when Medicare does not pay enough, some doctors struggle with covering the staff, utilities and other overhead costs. "We have not faced a drastic reduction, but we have faced basically a stagnation in our rates over the last 10-years," said Dr. David Katz. "All the while our overhead costs of running a business have gone up like everyone else's has."

Katz is also President-elect of the Connecticut State Medical Society . He says physicians are frustrated and some are taking drastic steps. "I have seen practices drop Medicare and I have seen practices also continue to see Medicare patients but limit the new patient availability of Medicare patients."

When asked how tough it will be for incoming Medicare patients to seek care, Katz said it will become increasingly difficult. "I think its only going to get tougher," said Katz.

That scenario gets even more complicated because more baby boomers are retiring and it conjures scary thoughts for patients like Lawrence Sterback Senior. "What would happen to me if Dr. Katz says you're office visits are too expensive," questioned Sterback. "Who am I going to go to? He can't handle it, why would somebody else handle it?"

"When I look at the paperwork that comes back from Medicare, it shows what a great difference there is in the fees and what the doctor pays," said Vern Van Fleet a Medicare patient. "They sometimes even cut it in half."

Van Fleet understands all too well a physician's predicament." Oh I understand the other side," said Van Fleet. "If I were a doctor, I wouldn't take Medicare patients either."

Congress recently passed a measure just as it was about to expire that extends Medicare reimbursements with 'no' decreases. However, that holds only until late fall. Come January, doctors could see a cut in fees by more than 30 percent.