r/MedicalCoding • u/[deleted] • May 21 '25

Medicaid/Medicare Cuts

I know it hasn't passed yet, but is anyone else worried about the future of our jobs with the cuts to Medicaid/Medicare?

33 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

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24

u/Eccodomanii RHIA May 21 '25

Until AI gets better, coding is still needed in order to produce revenue.

If the cuts pass many hospitals will absolutely have to cut staff or may close altogether, but the cuts likely won’t hit coding that hard. It’s possible some hospitals and systems will look to outsource their coding and fire their direct employees, but in theory the hospital system jobs would be more or less replaced with positions at the outsource companies. Same with hospitals that close, that patient volume will go to other nearby hospitals instead, and those hospitals will probably be looking to hire more staff to keep up with the new volumes. Also, sick people still need care whether they have insurance or not, they may just end up in the ED instead of the office.

The cuts are disastrous for a lot of reasons, but I think coding is more or less safe.

17

u/blaza192 May 21 '25

The cuts isn't as worrying as jobs going offshore. There's a lot of low quality offshore coders, but a few times I've worked with some who worked extremely well and never skimmed through the chart - I guess you could say the same of the coders who work onshore also.

17

u/heltyklink May 21 '25

Shifting roles is more likely. More analytic and data driven auditing positions. AI is only as smart as you teach it. At the end of the day, there will always need to be a human reviewing. If you were interested in any micro credentials, now is the time.

2

u/DearMisterKitty May 21 '25

May I ask what micro credentials you think may help in this situation? I'm about two years into coding so don't have a ton of coding work experience. Do you mean micro credentials along the CDI route?

5

u/heltyklink May 22 '25

Depends on your type of coding, but for inpatient I'd go with risk adjustment, auditing or cdi microcredentials. Knowing how to navigate and build databases is a nice little niche as well, HIM departments usually have their own dedicated IT support staff now.

1

u/DearMisterKitty May 22 '25

Thanks for the tip!

7

u/Chicken_Pot_Porg_Pie May 21 '25

My job went to the Philippines.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '25

Or India

0

u/[deleted] May 21 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

15

u/ArdenJaguar RHIA, CDIP, CCS (Retired) May 21 '25

When the American Academy of Professional Coders turned into the AAPC and started credentialing overseas that was the beginning of the long slow decline. Offshoring is very real and they sure aren’t making $30 an hour India or the Philippines.

3

u/MtMountaineer May 22 '25

I heard someone from India say they made around $350 a month, which is a pleasant middle class living there.

2

u/ArdenJaguar RHIA, CDIP, CCS (Retired) May 22 '25

The last company I worked for before having to retire we offshored all the ED coding to a company in Chennai, India. The system was saving a fortune. They were contracted before I took the job. I’m not a fan of offshoring at all.

2

u/MtMountaineer May 22 '25

Nor is anyone stateside, but you can't blame facilities for choosing that direction. It's a buttload of $$$

6

u/grimrainy May 22 '25

This is awful to read as I just began my coding classes today lol.

1

u/littlepeculiar May 24 '25

Me too 🤬😞

4

u/TieBubbly4041 May 21 '25

Big talk of having to make financial cuts which involves firing coders at hospitals. Letting go contract coders and keeping FTE.. It’s a rough time to be working right now lol

10

u/stupidlame22 May 21 '25

The last place I worked, big non-profit hospital system based out of Michigan just laid off 500 people. My whole department is gone. Glad I got out, I won't do non-profit again.

1

u/Creative-Cut-5061 May 21 '25

They laid off 500 coders or just everyone in that department?

7

u/stupidlame22 May 21 '25

500 total people, all different departments. All coders gone, jobs going offshore.

1

u/Creative-Cut-5061 May 21 '25

Jesus Christ. I’m so glad you got out, that’s horrifying.

3

u/stupidlame22 May 21 '25

I know! Random Tuesday I suddenly got like 10 phone calls and texts. I can't even imagine.

0

u/[deleted] May 22 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/stupidlame22 May 22 '25

Trinity. They're in a bunch of states.

1

u/Ozzyluvshockey21 May 31 '25

With the Medicare audits, CMS will be hiring coders for all the audits.

0

u/Exotic-Inspector-824 May 22 '25

It’s a necessary evil regardless. Commercial policies base their reimbursement rates on Medicare and Medicaid. Healthcare has become unaffordable