title: Rural physicians' acceptance of new Medicare patients.
abstract: According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the percentage of family physicians accepting new Medicare patients declined from 84.1% in 2000 to 76.1% in 2003 (Trude & Ginsburg 2002). That decline coincided with projected annual decreases in Medicare physician payment announced in March 2002 and March 2003. The decline in the percentage of family physicians accepting new Medicare patients is cause for concern about Medicare beneficiaries' access to health care services. National trends for all physicians may mask different trends among rural physicians. The data in this policy brief describe the trends for urban and rural physicians who no longer accept new Medicare patients.
authors.forename: Keith J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: A Clinton
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: MacKinney
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: McBride
authors.forename: Jane L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Meza
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D019981:Health Care Sector; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D015442:Medicare Assignment; D010820:Physicians / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D011050:Policy Making; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000639:trends*; D016079:Refusal to Treat / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000639:trends*; D014481:United States