More Washington State Doctors, Clinics Stop Accepting Medicare, Medicaid Patients

Many Washington state doctors and clinics are ending their participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs because of low reimbursements and high administrative burdens, the Seattle Times reports. Doctors, who have "long griped" about the gap between the cost of care they provide to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and the reimbursements they receive, said they no longer are able to shift costs by charging more for patients covered by private insurance and thus must limit their participation in the public programs. Dr. Paul Buehrens, who works at a Kirkland-based clinic that stopped taking new Medicare patients, said employers have put pressure on insurers to "keep prices down," and as a result, commercial health plans are no longer willing to "subsidize Medicare." Although there are no available statewide statistics on how many physicians have exited the programs, local medical officials said that anecdotal evidence indicates there is a "growing crisis." For example, in Thurston County, no doctors are accepting new Medicaid pediatric patients. Also, none of the largest clinics in Spokane are accepting new Medicare and Medicaid patients, the Times reports. Local doctors have said that unless the state and federal governments increase reimbursements, they will either end their participation in the programs altogether or leave Washington state. "Part of the reason doctors are closing (their doors) to Medicare is they can't think of a single solution," Buehrens said. Doctors said that political pressure from "angry" Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries who are unable to access care providers might force elected officials to increase the reimbursement rates. Buehrens added, "[P]art of the solution will be that Medicare patients will find themselves with nowhere to go and they'll start screaming" (Ostrom, Seattle Times, 3/12).