Why would a doctor drop a medicare patient; even if that patient is willing to pay "out of pocket"?

I doubt you can afford to pay in full in cash for every treatment, medication, consultation or surgery.

It is not illegal to accept cash to pay the charges in full. But they cannot accept partial cash and also bill Medicare if thats what you asked them. They also want a guarantee that you will pay which is what Medicare does but their reimbursements are too low for them.

The Medicare reimbursements are getting lower so a doctor may not accept Medicare. If you changed to a Medicare Advantage plan you wont have that problem since they are all part of an HMO or PPO network. You will have to find another doctor who takes Medicare.

Medicare is starting to pay too little for many doctors to afford to accept patients with it. This seems to be a growing problem in primary care.

Medicare patients can be charged only 125% max of what Medicare pays. And what Medicare pays is often insultingly low. 125% of insultingly low may not be enough for your doctor to cover her expenses. If she charges more, she could go to jail. In addition, if a doctor does not accept Medicare but sees Medicare patients, there is additional paperwork for every patient visit.

Office rent, staff costs, supplies and equipment are increasing in price. Medicare reimbursement gets cut by Congress every chance they get.

If you are unhappy about this situation, consult your Congressional representatives. It's only going to get worse.

Trimming her responsibilities or no longer wanting to have the financial restrictions of Medicare.

the doctor might have to much on their plate