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distressed I never do this. Ever. You guys know that. But this is REALLY important.
Taken from Military.com
Barring congressional action (HR 2785), the Medicare payment rate to physicians will be reduced by 10.6% in July of 2008. This directly affects TRICARE beneficiaries because TRICARE payment rate is based upon Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) update formula. This means that doctors will be forced to accept less money for medical procedures. In the past these reductions have caused doctors to turn away TRICARE patients and will likely do so again if the reduced payment rates are not blocked.
This issue will adversely affect survivors, retirees, members of the active-duty, Guard and reserve and their families, especially those living far from military installations. There are already some doctors in remote areas who refuse to see new TRICARE patients. Without congressional action to ensure these cuts don?t take effect, more doctors may chose to turn TRICARE beneficiaries away.
In short, if you don't understand - Tricare (the military health insurance) is looking at paying physicians LESS than 'normal' insurance providers. This means doctors would be taking cut rates when they take military members. Being a military wife myself I know that this means several things. First - a civilian doctor might not see you as mentioned above. But also, even if a civilian doctor DOES take you, it's likely the care will not be as good as others - we'll be deemed less important patients and may not receive the best care as a result.
The above link should take you to an actionable page where you can send letters to your representatives. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pass this around to everyone you know. I don't do this - ever - but this is REALLY important and DOES directly impact and affect the lives of military members, retirees, and their families!!!
June 3 2008, 11:51:27 UTC 3 years ago
This bill would be awful for dependents.
I could rant a looooooong time about this so I won't start on your page, k? Thanks for the heads up.
June 3 2008, 11:56:47 UTC 3 years ago
*grumble*
CUT SOMETHING ELSE! FIND SOME OTHER PORK TO CUT SOMEWHERE. Don't pull the rug out from under those serving their country.
June 3 2008, 14:07:07 UTC 3 years ago
My 19-y.o. nephew has special needs that makes private medical insurance prohibitively expensive, and his disabilities prevent him from holding anything but the lowest paying jobs. So, no chance of ever getting employee medical coverage.
Which means that he's completely dependent on Medicaid. And thanks to this country's byzantine rules and broken healthcare system, that means that he literally can't afford to work as much as he wants to. And when he gets his SSI payment (which he has to get in order to qualify for Medicaid), he *has* to go out and spend it all before the end of the month, whether he wants to or not (and believe it or not, he doesn't want to).
Anyone who says the system isn't broken has never had to deal with it. No one should be treated that way, much less military families, senior citizens and the disabled.
June 7 2008, 18:59:57 UTC 3 years ago