Less than 1% of physicians have formally opted out of Medicare

Aaron Carroll

March 25, 2014

And more than 40% of them are psychiatrists. Seriously. Some more data:

Only 4% of Medicare beneficiaries do not have a usual source of care
88% of Medicare beneficiaries could usually or always get an appointment for routine care as soon as they needed
92% of Medicare beneficiaries could usually or always get an appointment with a specialist as soon as they needed
Of the only 7% of Medicare beneficiaries who sought a new primary care physician, five of the seven percent had no problem doing so
Of the 14% of Medicare beneficiaries who sought a new specialist, twelve of the fourteen percent had no problem doing so
Half as many Medicare beneficiaries reported not getting care or delaying care than privately insured individuals 50-64.

But you know, any day now all the docs are going to quit Medicare. Any day now…

Aaron Carroll

Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS is co-Editor-in-Chief of The Incidental Economist and tweets at @aaronecarroll. He is the Chief Health Officer at Indiana University. He is also a Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean for Research Mentoring at the Indiana University School of Medicine. In addition to contributing regularly to The New York Times and the Atlantic, he is the author of four books, most recently The Bad Food Bible.

Less than 1% of physicians have formally opted out of Medicare

Aaron Carroll

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Aaron Carroll

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