Bipartisan attempt to control your doctor

Who will control your doctor? Yesterday the U.S. Energy and Commerce House health subcommittee voted to pass a version of the bipartisan 70-page draft "SGR repeal" bill that will change the way Medicare pays your doctor and other clinicians. The bill repeals a longstanding contentious system of yearly payment cuts under a law called the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) -- but then it puts government in charge of doctors.

Congress has regularly passed annual "doc fix" bills to stop the SGR pay cuts. Thus, if the SGR cuts were finally allowed to take effect next year, Medicare payments to doctors would drop by 25% on January 1, 2014. Congress doesn't want this to happen. Instead, the proposed SGR repeal bill increases annual Medicare payments by 0.5% for five years -- until 2019 when it institutes an intrusive tracking system that would put medical decisions under federal control.

In exchange for the SGR repeal, the bill would require doctors to report certain government-imposed "quality" metrics to the government or accept a 5% cut in Medicare payments.

Stat of the Week: 62,900 - physician shortage two years from now, which is being exacerbated by the ACA according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/12/obamacare-blues/

the bill would require doctors to report certain government-imposed "quality" metrics to the government

One of which, I am sure, is making sure that anyone with "high" cholesterol is taking a statin:

http://www.thincs.org/news.htm

I got a letter yesterday from Medicare Generation Rx, about medication therapy management telling me they have enrolled me in their program to make sure I am getting the most out of my medication. It would provide me access to their registered pharmacists or licensed pharmacy intern to review my meds and make sure they are appropriate, safe and effective to lower the risk of drug interactions and possible harmful side effects. This is connected to Medicare Part D.

They also stated “Our pharmacists can contact your doctors to discuss any concerns such as recommened changes to your medications.”

They also said that throughout the year, pharmacists will review my medicine list to look for ways to improve my drug therapy.

It gave an opt-out number which I called immediately.

Who gave them permission to call my doctor? I am so sick of people calling me and interfering. I suppose others have already received the same letter. This is just another way to control both the doctor and patient.

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