Medicare physician payment cuts take effect

Intro

Medicare started paying doctors a little less this year, and it’s making life harder for both patients and clinics, especially in small towns.

What Changed

Doctor payments through Medicare dropped about three percent as last year’s small boost expired. For big hospital systems it’s annoying, but for solo and rural doctors, it’s serious. Some are cutting hours. Some won’t take new Medicare patients at all. Older people in small towns now drive an hour for a check-up that used to be ten minutes away. Mental-health and physical-therapy clinics are trimming staff. A few family-practice offices are joining large networks just to survive, meaning fewer independent doctors. For patients, that means longer waits, fewer options, and maybe paying cash to keep seeing the same person. Doctors say it’s the cost of everything else—rent, staff, equipment—that’s breaking them, not just the cut.

What to Watch Next

Watch whether Congress adds a short-term “doc fix” in the next budget. Keep an eye on clinic closures, especially in rural counties. If small practices disappear, patients will see more urgent-care visits and less long-term care from familiar doctors.