I guess we will have to wait until November to see how bad the requirements are, but I'm guessing that one strategy might be to change from par to non-par status for Medicare. This would let a doc charge an extra 10% above the Medicare par rates, essentially negating the threatened 9% reduction. Of course the patients would need to handle their own billing, not a simple matter. But sometimes sharing the pain can wake people up.
I manage several practices in a billing company. We have a doc that just opted out of MCR and turned all of his loyal Medicare patients into cash patients because MCR were tax liening him. His practice took a nose dive and he can't get back in for 24 months (mandatory re-enrollment waiting period). He's also finding that because he's MCR now non-par he can't even prescribe them meds that are paid for on part D plans. Now the feds are taking his Tricare, CHAMPVA, etc. payments.
Expecting elderly patients to file their own MCR claims is crazy; even if you fill out the CMS-1500 form for them.
