Colorado Public News reports:

Colorado Public News called family, general practice and internal medicine physicians across the state, using the nation’s official website that lists thousands of doctors the site claims treats patients on Medicare. Of 100 contacted, only 34 said they would readily accept a new patient. …

Dr. Jonathan Zonca, of Ascent Family Medicine in Denver, is taking new Medicare patients. But he said he hesitated after figuring out that Medicare had paid half of what other insurance plans did, over three years.

“That’s a real hard way to make money and pay our staff and pay our rent, especially in Denver — it’s pretty expensive rent,” he said.

Medicare also pays more slowly than other insurance plans, doctors say.

Read the whole article in the Boulder Daily Camera: Colorado docs often refuse or limit new Medicare patients, survey finds.