AMA President Dr. Peter Carmel: Senior Physicians Postponing Retirement

Senior physicians are postponing retirement due to declining reimbursements and the difficulty of "slowing down" participation in a practice, according to an editorial in American Medical News by AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD.

Dr. Carmel said traditionally, physician retirement meant cutting back office hours, limiting surgeries or volunteering a few days a week or month. He said that today, slowing down in a practice is difficult because of the high cost of licensing and medical liability premiums.

He said other practitioners must keep working full-time because of the lack of physicians available to take over their workload. Other physicians must keep working due to declining reimbursements

Dr. Carmel pointed out that already, 20 percent of U.S. physicians are older than 65. Fortunately, America's population needs those physicians who shirk retirement as they age; the country is facing a shortage of physicians to meet the needs of a growing population.

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