Herbert Pardes, MD, CEO of New York City-based New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Edward Miller, MD, dean and CEO of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine, say proposed Medicare reductions for physician training are not in the best interest of patients, according to a co-authored op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal.
Lawmakers are considering halving Medicare reimbursement for physician training to trim approximately $4 billion from the federal budget. Drs. Pardes and Miller say the cuts would reduce the number of well-trained physicians at the time when the demand for them is growing, leading to longer wait times for patients and an exacerbated physician shortage.
The op-ed also discusses the effect of these proposed cuts on hospitals, saying these organizations now provide most primary and outpatient care in the country along with care for the indigent. “However, this means that if one area of a hospital receives a cut in reimbursement, such as a cut in graduate medical education, it will impact all services that hospital provides to the community,” according to the op-ed.
The physician leaders also recommend that Congress change the number of physicians hospitals can train. This was capped in 1997, when Congress believed that the country would face a surplus of physicians. Under these limits, 16,000 physicians can be trained per year. Drs. Pardes and Miller say the nation will need to train an additional 6,000-8,000 new physicians each year for the next 20 years to meet demand.
Read the Wall Street Journal op-ed on physician training and Medicare cuts.
Related Articles on Medicare Reductions:
Deficit Negotiations Between Obama, House Speaker Boehner May Include Medicare and Medicaid Cuts, Tax Overhaul
National Governors Association Urges Deficit Negotiation Leaders to Avoid Cost-Shifting to States
Physicians’ Medicare Payments May be Cut 29.4%
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