Docs troubled by big Medicare payment cuts

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Some U.S. doctors who mostly treat elderly patients say they are troubled by a proposed 21 percent Medicare reimbursement cut.

Kansas City, Mo., physicians interviewed by CNNMoney.com told the Web site that a boycott against accepting new Medicare patients has already begun in the city because of fears the reimbursement cuts would lead to operating losses.

Dr. David Wilt, an internist with Kansas City Internal Medicine, said that most physicians in the city have already instituted such a policy, saying, "If the (21 percent) cut happens, that cut in our payments will exceed our profits. The only option to us to stay in business will be to fire employees."

The cuts are scheduled to take place in 2010, and the U.S. Senate voted last week against stopping them from taking place.

"If I accept Medicare for myself and my wife, I'm fearful I won't be able to stay with my cardiologist and my wife won't be able to stay with her physicians," Dr. John Hagan, a Kansas City-area ophthalmologist, told CNNMoney.com, adding that he won't be able to see any more Medicare patients because he won't be able to cover his expenses.