Federal Medicare Payment Fix Brings Relief To San Diego Doctors
Physicians in the area were operating under a formula that reimbursed them as if they were practicing in rural areas. "The joke among doctors has been, 'Look at all our cows,'" quipped Dr. James Hay, a family practitioner in Encinitas and former California Medical Association president.
Inewsource:
San Diego Doctors Win Long Campaign For Higher Medicare Pay
San Diego area doctors seldom complain to their patients about low Medicare pay. But for two long decades, many have complained bitterly to each other. That's because an old and complex federal formula reimburses physicians here as if they were practicing in "rural" areas, and assumes their costs of rent and staff are low, resembling those in Fresno or El Centro rather than Anaheim or Los Angeles. (Clark, 3/8)