"Medicare to Cut Doctor Fees 4.4 Percent; Raise Vaccine Payments"
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"Medicare to Cut Doctor Fees 4.4 Percent; Raise
Vaccine Payments" Dow Jones Newswire (www.djnewswires.com)
(12/20/02); Middleton, Otesa
Next year will mark the second consecutive year
for physician fee cuts by Medicare. According to the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, the 4.4 percent reduction in fees Medicare pays doctors may
lower the number of doctors willing to accept new Medicare patients and may
force others to charge patients for the unreimbursed portion of their services.
The fees paid will decrease starting Feb. 15, using a formula that factors in
inflation and productivity in doctors' services; the formula can only be changed
by Congress. Meanwhile, Medicare plans to increase administration payments for
some preventive health measures, such as vaccines, with payments for the flu
shots, for example, increasing 82 percent from $3.98 to $7.26.
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OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"