From the article:
Colorado Public News called family, general practice and internal medicine physicians across the state, using the nation's official website that lists thousands of doctors the site claims treats patients on Medicare. Of 100 contacted, only 34 said they would readily accept a new patient.(Read the full text of "Colorado docs often refuse or limit new Medicare patients".)
Of the remainder, 40 said they would not add a new patient on traditional Medicare. Another 26 limit new clients, making decisions on a case-by-case basis, or placing patients on waiting lists of up to six months. That adds up to 66 -- or two-thirds -- refusing or limiting new patients...
Dr. Jonathan Zonca, of Ascent Family Medicine in Denver, is taking new Medicare patients. But he said he hesitated after figuring out that Medicare had paid half of what other insurance plans did, over three years.
"That's a real hard way to make money and pay our staff and pay our rent, especially in Denver -- it's pretty expensive rent," he said.
Medicare also pays more slowly than other insurance plans...
Remember, Medicare is "single payer" government health care for the elderly. But Medicare doesn't pay enough to allow doctors to take good care of their patients. And the proposed "payment reforms" have been a failure.
Yet there are still many who want to expand this dysfunction government model to encompass all of American health care.
(Via Brian Schwartz.)
