Docs say potential cuts in Medicare devastating

Janie Lorber

Jul. 9, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- WASHINGTON -- Local doctors fear that a cut in federal Medicare reimbursements could leave some of Long Island's older, and most sickly, patients facing a shortage of physicians and cutbacks in health care.

The threat of a 10.6 percent cut in payments to doctors who serve Medicare patients comes on top of soaring overhead costs -- leaving some Island physicians saying the fee cuts could force them to stop accepting new Medicare patients.

Some doctors are even eyeing early retirement as they struggle to make ends meet.

"When I start thinking about throwing in the towel, it's a very sad thing," said Dr. Luigi Capobianco, 52, a family practitioner in Glen Cove, who worries the Medicare cut would make it impossible to maintain high quality care. "I'm seeing more and more doctors retiring in their 60s. There's no way out of this."

Capobianco is one of more than 2,000 doctors in Nassau and Suffolk counties who care for the Island's aging population enrolled in Medicare, the federal health care program for people age 65 and up.

Nearly 70 percent of his patients are on Medicare, which serves 442,349 people on Long Island, according to federal statistics.

Senate Democrats failed to block the Medicare cut in a vote two weeks ago, coming up short by one vote. They could make their second attempt as soon as today.

Adding to the uncertainty for doctors is that President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the $18-billion Medicare reform bill that includes reimbursements.

The Democrat-backed bill would include a 1.1 percent increase in Medicare reimbursements, but some doctors say that's a drop in the bucket. "Is it worth staying in practice?" said Dr. Charles Rothburg, a Patchogue ophthalmologist.

The cut would have consequences beyond the Island's Medicare patients, leading to shorter visits, longer waits and increasing the chance for error as doctors increase the number of patients they see, said Dr. George Dunn, a family practitioner in Glen Cove and Oyster Bay.

In addition, many HMOs base their reimbursement rates on Medicare. Cutting back on Medicare fees, historically the highest payer, would probably cause a ripple effect, doctors say. "If your best payments start to fade out -- wow, that's big," Dunn said.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0134-26536986