Deadline Near For Disputing Medicare Cuts for Cancer Treatment

Doctors all over want to urge Medicare and Medicaid recipients to respond to a fleeting deadline that is running out to dispute proposed financial cuts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services(CMS). The Medicare deadline is Monday, August 31, 2009. The urgency of the matter is that it will affect patient's lives and the care they get during their battle with cancer.

The CMS has proposed drastic reductions in the 2010 Medicare payment rates for radiation oncology contained in the CY 2010 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule.

The proposed payment cuts to oncologists are up to 44% and these reductions will affect a multitude of necessary procedures including effective cancer treatments.

“Radiation oncology is critical for the effective treatment of our nation's cancer patients,” said Robert Miller, M.D., an oncologist at Wellspring Oncology Cancer Center. “We need to work together to cut healthcare costs, but placing radiation therapy in the same category as diagnostic imaging is a blatant error and is not serving cancer patients fairly. We need to make sure that all cancer patients, including those who live in rural areas and depend on Medicare, have access to all the tools and resources they need to make a full recovery. If these financial cuts do take place it will most certainly affect locations of where you can get treatment.”

“I was extremely fortunate that I could take this treatment 15 minutes away from my home,” said Bay area resident Robert Strickland, 76, a retired Air Force fighter pilot and cancer survivor. “Towards the end of the treatment, it became very exhausting and if the location had been further away, it would have made the whole process a lot more difficult.”

Besides oncologists, these financial rate cuts will affect all specialty doctors.

People wishing to comment on the proposed cuts are encouraged to contact their congressional representatives and request a reversal on the proposed rate cuts.

About WellSpring Oncology: Doctors Robert Miller, Zucel Solc and Frank Franzese opened the doors of WellSpring Oncology in spring of 2008 to provide high-end treatment in a more personal and caring environment for patients.

The doctors at WellSpring Oncology have been practicing innovative radiation therapy since the 1970’s and formed the establishment to ensure patients have access to the latest technology available in the treatment of cancer. The doctors of WellSpring Oncology are all board-certified in radiation oncology and received their training at the top centers in the country, including MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering and the University of California San Francisco.

WellSpring Oncology is located at 6600 Sixty Sixth Street North in St. Petersburg, Florida. For more information, contact WellSpring Oncology at (727) 343-0600 or visit them online at www.wellspringoncology.org.

Written by Jennifer Vickery FULL CIRCLE PR
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