Local physician: To protect patients in Jacksonville and beyond, Congress must fix Medicare

If there’s something on which we can all agree, it’s that when illness strikes, knowing that your local doctor is there to assist you is a comfort. A local doctor that specializes in delivering the care that you and your loved ones need. One who cares about the patients they serve and who works in the best interests of their community, large or small, here in the Sunshine State.

However, the Medicare program has become increasingly unstable in recent years due to inaction by policymakers in Washington. Simply put, we cannot afford to have an unworkable Medicare program in a state where population growth is largely driven by vulnerable seniors who need access to their local doctors more than most.

The problems plaguing the Medicare program must be fixed, sooner rather than later. If policymakers in Washington don’t act, local doctors will face increasing pressure to consolidate, shutter their practices in rural areas or relocate elsewhere out of necessity.

Medicare should treat doctors the same way it treats hospitals, nursing homes and other entities that serve the most vulnerable members of our state. Unfortunately, this has not been happening. Instead, to account for the growing expenses that all businesses across our state are experiencing, entities like hospitals and skilled nursing facilities have received payment increases of more than 60% from Medicare since 2001.

In that same period, physicians are paid 26% less than they received in 2001 and are projected to face further decreases in 2024. This is exacerbating Florida’s challenges with patient access to timely care and physician shortages. It will also steer the next generation of doctors away from the Sunshine State.

There is still hope for corrective action. Proposed bipartisan legislation in Congress would address this very issue and kickstart the process of further improving the Medicare program. This legislation, known as the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 2474), will enable doctors to receive the critical resources they need to deliver the best care possible to patients.

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We encourage U.S. Reps. Aaron Bean, Kat Cammack and John Rutherford to support the measure.

Once given these crucial resources, local doctors will be empowered to better help their patients avoid delays in care and health maintenance. These delays are often responsible for more emergency room visits and hospital admissions, which may have been avoidable with better health care availability before you become sick or injured.

Improved access and health maintenance ultimately lowers health care costs for all Floridians by allowing patients to receive care in the most affordable setting possible. Floridians deserve no less.

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Doctors want a better health care system that serves the best interests of society. We all benefit from a Medicare program delivering economic fairness, exercising fiscal restraint and promoting innovation. These goals can be accomplished without restricting or limiting access to care. Doing so benefits you and the nearly 5 million Medicare beneficiaries occupying our state.

Fixing our broken Medicare program (as well as the broader health care system) will take time and effort, but this is one step that can be taken immediately. Patient lives and health are entrusted with highly trained local doctors. Improving the Medicare program, both in the near future and for generations to come, can begin by passing the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act.

In doing so, Floridians will experience superior quality, as well as more affordable — and more accessible — health care.

Dr. Steven Kailes is an emergency medicine physician and president of the Duval County Medical Society.

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Congressman John Rutherford is currently a co-sponsor of this legislation.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Passage of H.R. 2474 is first step to repair broken Medicare program