Medicare Reimbursements on the chopping block again?

Medicare reimbursement rates. It's that time of year again when they are on the chopping block and Congress has to re-authorize to continue the same reimbursement rate, otherwise many physicians warn they are not going to be able to accept new Medicare patients if the reimbursement rate is cut.

This same issue has come up year after year for over a decade. Congress talks every year about the urgent need to cut spending. When the time comes to make cuts, many congressmen decide against these cuts as they know how negatively it will affect Physicians across the country and many Seniors, who incidentaly, are voters.

Physicians and the AMA, American Medical Association, have warned for years that any such cuts will have a devastating effect on Medical and the ability of Seniors to obtain care, as well as the ability of future Seniors to obtain care and find a physician that will treat them.

In addition, this will also affect Physicians, as their short term cash flow will be impacted, forcing significant numbers of physicians to seek outside financing.

Will the Reimbursement rate be cut or will the same levels of funding continue? It is probably a safe bet that while there will be a lot of talk about the need to make cuts, in the end, the cuts will not occur and no politician wants to campaign for re-election with a target on their back as being one in the first group of politicians that finally, and significantly cut Medicare.

Getting Cash for my business based on bank statements

Found a way to get cash for my business using just my business checking account statements or my equipment. I'm not sure this is a long term solution for my business but it helps make up the longer and longer insurance company and Medicare delays.

The New Debt Commission to assess cuts by November?

The new debt commission, offspring of Congress to make budget cuts, will be in the news again in the next several weeks. Many legislators and observers have designated early November as the date by which the commission should make it's recommendations of major spending cuts to Congress. An early date may be necessary to allow time for legislators who may not agree with the target of the cuts, and the amounts, to respond and come to an agreement.

Consequences of Cuts to Medicare

In the last several years, a constantly increasing number of physicians have begun refusing Medicare patients. If Medicare becomes one of the programs cut with the approximately $4 Trillion spending cut agreement made as part of the debt ceiling increase agreement, unless other changes are made in the program, many more physicians will stop taking Medicare patients.

One of the most significant negatives for physicians, is that the reimbursement rate by Medicare, and in some cases, the timeliness of payments, has declined. If there are further cuts to Medicare in the reimbursement rate, and no increases in Medicaid, even more doctors will not want to take Medicare or Medicaid patients, as it is just not lucrative enough for them. As an example, in Key West, there is only one remaining Pediatrician that accepts Medicaid.

Will Cuts to Medicare: Catastrophic?

The August 2nd bill approved by both Congress and the Senate, and signed by the President, raised the debt ceiling by close to a trillion dollars. As part of the agreement, cuts in spending programs are to slightly exceed the amount of the debt ceiling increase as a first step, and there will be approximately 2 trillion additional dollars in additional spending cuts in the next 10 years. The programs which will be cut have yet to be determined.

If cuts to Medicare take place, which will almost be a requirement due to the size of Medicare, and it being a big target for many politicians, with no accompanying increases in revenue, the consequences to Medicare recipients, mostly seniors, will be very significant.

Multiple funding programs

In the current lending environment, even physicians must be willing to consider several types of funding and multiple parts of funding in order to achieve their funding needs. In the past, physicians only needed to go to the banks and put in a request and they were approved. No longer.

Many physicians today are employing asset based financing, such as a leaseback, merchant advance funding, often known as credit card advance, and cash flow financing, also known as bank statement financing. Only by employing varied programs will many business owners be able to fulfill their financing needs.

Is physicians cash flow getting better?

The cash flow for some physicians is getting better for some, but not for all by a longshot. Physicians have additional cash flow hurdles as they must battle significant reimbursement delays from insurance companies. Things have not improved for physicians in this regard in recent quarters. Insurance companies are still lagging and due to the economy still trying to turn the corner, insurance companies are still denying higher reimbursement rates for many claims.

Equipment Refinance

One type of method which allows using hard assets as collateral as an alternative small business loan through the use of equipment is known as a leaseback. Via this method, the physician can take assets they own outright, such as X-ray machines, heart monitoring machines, patient tables, and obtain capital out of these items. Dentists can use patient chairs and X-rays as well. Physicians usually have a great deal of value in this equipment that is not being tapped.

This method allows the doctor to take cash out of the equipment and use it for another important purpose.