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Hunting for health care
At some doctors' offices, new Medicare patients are finding that they're not welcome.Date published: 10/12/2003
By JIM HALL
If you're new to the fast-growing Fredericksburg area and trying to find a primary-care doctor, your search could be a difficult one. If you're new and a senior citizen, it will be even tougher. Several of the area's primary-care doctors have closed their practices to new Medicare patients because of low reimbursements. Seniors who have just moved to the area and those changing doctors are the most likely to be affected. Pat Carmine, a 67-year-old Falmouth resident, called seven local doctor offices last month before finding one that is accepting new Medicare patients. Carmine said she and her husband, Joseph, also 67, had been seeing a Richmond doctor, but wanted to switch to someone closer to home. The family considers Medicare to be their secondary insurance, she said, since her husband is employed and has insurance through his work. "It didn't make a bit of difference," she said. "It was very frustrating." A recent Free Lance-Star phone survey of 26 family-practice and internal-medicine offices also found fewer choices for seniors. Ten of the offices said they were not taking new Medicare patients. One office requires new Medicare patients to take an entry physical, to weed out those who are deemed too sick. Patient numbers growingMedicare is the federal medical insurance program for people 65 or older and those with disabilities. In a region like Fredericksburg, with 20,000 seniors, it is an important part of the medical landscape. Pat Holland, senior services coordinator for the Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging, said she has long advised seniors who are thinking of moving to the area to make sure their insurance and prescription plans work here. Now, she also advises them to check on the availability of a doctor. "Two years ago we wouldn't have thought about it," she said. Holland recently met an elderly couple from Ohio who moved to the Fredericksburg area to be near their adult son. The couple figured they would see the same doctor who cared for their son, but were surprised to learn he was not taking new Medicare patients. They eventually found another doctor and are happy with him, Holland said.
Date published: 10/12/2003
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