MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Dr. Bradford Holland, a longtime physician in McLennan County, is speaking out about ongoing Medicare payment cuts and their impact on senior care. With more than two decades of service, Holland says rising costs and reduced reimbursement rates make it increasingly challenging to provide quality care for elderly patients.
- Medicare rates cut for five consecutive years.
- U.S. doctors are calling on Congress to make a change.
- A bill called HR 879 is being considered by Congress right now.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“Well, taking care of our senior community is one of my most rewarding things. I love doing it,” McLennan County Medical Society Dr. Bradford Holland said. “And it hurts us when we can't care for seniors how we want to.”
Dr. Holland has been serving our community for more than two decades.
But, between seeing patients, there’s another challenge he’s been facing for years.
“We've been through a period of inflation, and so we can't afford to have payments cut at a time when it's costing more and more to see patients and run our practices,” Holland said. “And we've had our rates from Medicare cut yearly for the past five years.”
He told 25 News Medicare rates were cut by 2.8% on January 1st—enforcing more shortages and less time to see Medicare patients.
“Even here in McLennan County, seniors have difficulty getting in to see new physicians. They have a hard time getting in to see specialists. Wait times are too long, and this cutting only makes it worse,” Holland said.
Dr. Holland isn’t alone—doctors nationwide are calling on Congress to make a change.
“What we're calling for is a fix to tie physician payments to the cost of inflation,” Holland said. “If we want to spend the kind of time and resources to take care of seniors, we need to be reimbursed according to inflation.”
Experts told 25 News this would help the economy in many ways.
“In terms of the productivity of people and the healthier society, lower overall long-term cost, more preventive care. A lot of things would happen positively if we were to have higher reimbursement rates,” Holland said.
A bill called HR 879 is being considered by Congress right now.
“What will happen if this doesn’t get approved by Congress?” 25 News’ Kadence MaKenna asked.
“I think we're going to continue to see decreased access to care for Medicare patients if we don't fix this,” Holland said.
