Medicare is Breaking. Senior Citizens are Paying the Price.

The nation’s Medicare system is breaking – and our senior citizens are paying the price.

Last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services slashed government reimbursements to physicians for the fifth year in a row, placing a severe financial burden on seniors and their doctors that will take effect in January – unless Congress intervenes first.

The U.S. population aged 65 and over has grown nearly five times faster than the total population, according to 2020 census data, boosting the demand for doctors who treat seniors and accept Medicare insurance.

At the same time, government payments to physicians who accept Medicare have been cut year after year. What’s more, Medicare has made no adjustments for inflation to physician payments in more than two decades, even in periods of record inflation.

In fact, physicians today are paid nearly 30% less by Medicare than they were in 2001 when accounting for inflation, according to the American Medical Association. Over the same period, between 2001 to 2023, the cost of operating a medical practice increased 47%.