<p>There is no true ‘bill’ yet, just a bunch of random proposals so nobody really knows what will happen. However, it’s unlikely that the health care bill will have much ‘tort reform’ in it. The AMA barks a lot, but at the end of the day it’s not a very powerful force in Washington. </p>
<p>The primary goal of ‘heath care reform’ is to make coverage available to as many people as possible and limit the amount of money spent on healthcare. Our healthcare system is horribly inefficient and bloated. The quality of care is generally excellent (for those who have access) but the system itself is in desperate need of cost-cutting measures. The challenge of course is to spend less without impacting quality.</p>
<p>What does that mean for physicians? Nobody knows for sure since there no formal proposal yet, but the general theme will be ‘doing more with less.’ </p>
<p>Even without the a reform bill, that theme is being carried out in January when physicans will be asked to provide the same level and quality of coverage to Medicare patients, but accept about a quarter less payment for their work. For those in private practice that translates into a direct pay cut. (Whether the government carries through with the cuts is yet to be seen… but that’s certainly the direction things are trending for the future.)</p>