Newswise — Earlier this week, Don Fisher, PhD, President and CEO of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), urging him to oppose the recently revealed idea for a Medicare “buy-in” plan. Reid had asked a group of 10 Senators, chaired by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), to address the public plan option. As part of the group’s work, a plan has been developed to allow a “buy-in” to Medicare for those 55 to 64 years of age and without other insurance coverage.
In his letter, Fisher went on to detail several principle concerns. First, he noted that, if enacted into law, a “buy-in” would result in physicians providing care for a mass of new patients reimbursed at Medicare rates, payments which are much too low. Secondly, he added that a “buy-in” would lead to the rapid influx of millions of new Medicare beneficiaries. This, he said, would produce a surge in demand for medical care that would overwhelm the delivery system, causing access problems for all. He closed by noting that the resulting financial consequences to providers would be devastating, and would certainly result in significant contraction of Medicare participating providers, exacerbating the predicted access problems.
Fisher also commented that: “AMGA members have often been cited by the President and others as being the vanguard of health care delivery quality and efficiency. If a Medicare “buy-in” is enacted, I think many of our members would have no choice but to stop either seeing new Medicare patients or to severely cut personnel and services to adjust to the resulting, severely diminished revenues. Expanding health insurance coverage on a financial basis that is not sound is a bad idea which Congress needs to reject.”
The American Medical Group Association is an association that represents medical groups, including some of the nation’s largest, most prestigious medical practices, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA improves health care for patients by supporting multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to approximately 96 million patients in 49 states. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org
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