In the Politifact article concerning doctors and Medicare reimbursements, U.S. Representative Michael Burgess(R) from Lewisville claimed that 2010 was the worst year ever for doctors whom receive reimbursements from Medicare. According to the article, Rep. Burgess is wrong on his statement. Though there were times during 2010 when doctors had a slight decrease in reimbursements, thanks to backdating congressional actions all doctors maintained the same Medicare reimbursements from the previous year. That reimbursement payment percentage was actually extended to last through 2011.
Being the domestic partner of a doctor, I know all too well about the worries doctors had over the past year regarding Medicare. Medicare patients and the money Medicare pays is the bread and butter of many medical practices, without which the doctors would not be forced to close or quit, but a lifestyle change would definitely occur. I'm estimating that approximately 30% of my partner's income comes from Medicare patients. To lose that much income all at once would not be devastating, but it would take some adjusting. In reality, some people are forced to live on much less than the average doctor earns.
Back to the article, the facts and opinions stated throughout the article have merit and are factual. The writer(s) seem to be unbiased in writing the article-they just wanted the truth to be told. Apparantly Rep. Burgess was grandstanding for the FOX Business News Network.....go figure.
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