Two new studies claim Medicare is not providing proper care for one of the nation’s most deadly disorders.
Cuts in Medicare could be adversely affecting cancer care according to a report released last week by the Community Oncology Alliance. The group’s vice president, Dr. David Eagle said, “These results are alarming, especially when one considers that about half of all cancer patients are Medicare patients.” Eagle says the report found that many cancer centers are losing on average about 500-thousand dollars a year, which could force some to close their doors.
Medicare pays for 56% for the delivery of chemotherapy. By 2013, that percentage will fall to 45%. “Covering co-payments and coinsurance is harder for cancer patients than ever before,” that’s according to cancer specialist Dr. Patrick Cobb. The doctor also explains that in addition to oncology-specific cuts, there will be a 21% payment cut for all physicians’ services starting in March of this year if Congress does not act quickly to stop it.
According to the American Cancer Society about half of all men and a third of women in the U.S. will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. However the cancer death rate in the U.S. has declined due to earlier detection, the quality of treatment, and the accessibility of cancer care.
Dr. Eagle is very worried. He says, “The study quantifies what we have known – that cuts in Medicare reimbursement have created a crisis in community cancer care that threatens the very existence of the system that treats four in five U.S. cancer patients.” The question now is will Congress and the President fix this with their health care plan? No one really knows right now.
This is Carl Ramsey and that’s Another View of the News.
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