Who Will Pay for Doc Fix?

President Obama recently signed legislation that contains provisions cancelling a scheduled 27.4% cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors.

Doctors deserve to get paid for their work — although I’ve never met a poor one. Nevertheless, this proves once again that having well-funded lobbyists via the AMA can pay off.

So who is picking up the tab to make the docs happy?

Part of it will come from a $6.9 billion reduction in federal payments to skilled nursing facilities and hospitals that collect bad debt over the next decade. In other words, nursing homes will have to eat a bigger chunk of the bad debts they experience each year.

This is sure to send daily nursing home costs higher yet.

Who then do you think will ultimately pay?

I’ll tell you ...

It’ll get passed on to middle-class Americans … the ones who aren’t rich enough to pay for proper care without going broke and the ones who aren’t poor enough to qualify for government handouts.

And that includes anyone who has worked hard and saved all their lives with the hope of having a comfortable retirement.

The Bill is a done deal. So no amount of bellyaching to your Congressmen will help. But you can take steps to prepare for the day when your health might change.

Pick up a copy of the updated edition to A Boomer’s Guide to Long-term Care. Inside you’ll find ideas on how to protect your assets and your family’s well-being.

Best wishes,

George
 

P.S. I’m now on Twitter. Follow me at http://twitter.com/efinancialwrite for frequent updates, personal insights and observations on how to have a healthly retirement.

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