Gee. Ya Think?
Today's New York Times reports that Medicare will be cutting payments to doctors by 4.4 percent, and then notes that "federal officials predicted that doctors would, as a result, be less willing to accept new Medicare patients."

Thus is the NYT surprised by a basic principle of economics: less pay incentivizes less work. They must be surprised by it - they considered it "news" enough to make it part of the lead.

But one Dr. Mark H. Krotowski, a family doctor in Brooklyn, isn't surprised: "The new cuts will force more physicians to turn away Medicare patients. That's the reality. Doctors will not have any incentive to accept new Medicare patients. While Medicare reimbursements are going down, our expenses are rising 5 percent to 10 percent a year."

The NYT reports that the Department of Health and Human Services admits the payment cuts might "cause fewer physicians to accept new Medicare patients" and could prompt doctors to increase their charges to some of the 40 million Medicare beneficiaries." At least someone understands another basic principle of economics and, indeed, life: There is no free lunch.