OPINION:
When a patient comes in to see me with something as anxiety-provoking as a medical problem that may require a neurosurgical procedure, I put an emphasis on time, compassion and respect.
I sit with them, and I am not in a rush. I have nothing in my hands — I’m not scribbling down notes. I’m just looking at them, having a conversation, face to face like a human being. Tell me about your pain. Tell me what you have tried, what is working and what is not. Tell me your story.
Joan’s story was like many other patient stories I had heard before. She was eighty-two years old, and the pain she felt while sitting had forced her to give up many of the things she loved to do most — swimming, sewing, playing cards with her friends, and going out to lunch.
Joan didn’t think she was a candidate for surgery because of her age, but I took the time to understand Joan’s condition and thought otherwise. Spine surgery has advanced dramatically over the last decade, and Joan was a healthy woman. In fact, Joan was the ideal candidate for surgery. And just an hour after Joan’s spine surgery, she was up walking around and had more energy than ever.
As a surgeon and someone responsible for an entire practice of doctors, nurses, administrative staff and, of course, our patients, I am so heartened by the story of the recent passage of legislation in Congress that lowers health care costs for seniors by capping how much they pay out-of-pocket for prescription drugs. This type of legislation speaks to treating seniors like Joan with the compassion and respect they deserve and is an essential step in keeping health care accessible to older Americans.
But more must be done to preserve the sustainability of the Medicare program.
That’s why I, along with my surgical colleagues, strongly encourage lawmakers to keep the momentum going by avoiding critical cutbacks to the Medicare payment system that go into effect in just a few months. Congress must take the sensible step to postpone these cuts until we can create more durable, compassionate Medicare payment policies worthy of the seniors who will be impacted.
The coming Medicare cuts will deeply impact surgeons’ ability to deliver the kind of high-quality care Joan received and all patients deserve — face-to-face contact, meaningful discussions, and well-earned respect. The cuts will also force surgeons, who are contending with steep inflation and other economic pressures, to make difficult decisions to keep their offices open. That isn’t what surgeons want, and I know it isn’t what patients or their families want either.
If my colleagues and I can’t operate our surgical practices without severe financial strain, we will be forced to make difficult choices about which patients we can see or which procedures we can provide. I would hate to see patients like Joan, strong candidates for life-changing surgery, not be able to receive similar life-changing and lifesaving treatments because of short-sighted cuts to Medicare.
Practices may downsize critical staff, creating fewer available opportunities to help patients. Worse still, many will be forced to close their practices entirely. Whether a community is in a dense urban area or a more remote location, this means fewer care options and significant new logistical hurdles for patients to find care, let alone receive the kind of care they deserve.
We all realize it is important for patients and their families to be advocates for their health care, particularly among older Americans. I care deeply about the care older Americans receive because I have seen how surgery can give them back their lives. The last thing they need or deserve is less access to life-changing care.
Surgeons and patients don’t need senseless cuts to Medicare — we need thoughtful, long-term solutions. My commitment and that of my surgical colleagues across the country will remain to give our patients our time, our compassion and our respect. We want that to extend to as many patients as we can possibly help, and that requires thoughtful Medicare policy, not cuts blind to negative impact – cuts aimed at patients like Joan.
- Dr. Burak Ozgur, M.D., is one of the best U.S. neurosurgeons specializing in minimally invasive spine neurosurgery for treating spine conditions such as herniated discs, chronic back pain, neck pain, degenerative disc disease and more. His achievements have earned him a double-board certification from the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Spine Surgery. He has been honored with the Super Doctors in Southern California Award for 11 years in a row from 2012 through 2022.
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