S.C. physicians warn Medicare still in danger

For nearly a decade, the story has been the same. Congress threatens to cut Medicare in December. But in the final hour, legislators stave off slashing the nation's insurance program for the elderly.

This year was different.

The funding debate was postponed until July. Lawmakers missed the deadline, and the cuts went into effect. As a stop-gap measure, the government stopped paying Medicare claims until enough senators voted July 9 to block the cut.

Area doctors are left feeling battered. "It is likely we will be right back in the same situation in late 2009, just as we have this year and in countless years past, trying to head off disaster at the last second," said Dr. Stewart Eads, a West Ashley internist.

Dr. Marshall Newton, a primary care physician in West Ashley, said that as long as doctors don't complain and continue to offer the same care, few patients are likely to notice the unsteady ground on which Medicare stands. "We have to get the word out to the public," he said

Some patients took note of this year's funding battle. Fred Day, 71, has Medicare supplemental insurance and is a quadriplegic who relies on seven doctors. An auto accident 50 years ago left him with a broken neck.

"I don't know what in the world I would do if my doctors say 'I couldn't help you anymore,'" Day said. "How can they afford to look after people if they're not getting paid?"

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.