J Stuart Wolf Jr MD FACS

𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖 𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖, 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝟖𝟐.𝟏%. Medicare’s physician payment formula (the Conversion Factor)? Down 9.9%. That’s not “fiscal responsibility.” That’s institutional gaslighting. 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡. But the doctors treating Medicare patients? They’re being asked to do more with less, year after year, because “𝐡𝐞𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞”, while the cost of running a practice skyrockets. If the American people want Congress to preserve access to care for aging Americans, it’s time to speak up and tie Medicare’s payment formula to inflation, just like their own salaries. 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞. They’re busy trying to survive the 20th century in the 21st. #HealthcarePolicy #Medicare #PhysicianBurnout #InflationMath #FixTheFormula