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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (339514)	12/21/2009 7:41:26 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794268

Not being any where near the age to collect Medicare, I haven't paid much attention. You say the docs are reimbursed 1/4 to 1/5 of the amount of the bill and that your supplement doesn't pay for much of it either, so my question to you is, do you make up the difference out of your own pocket? No, it's illegal to charge a Medicare patient beyond the specified co-pays of their plan. If Medicare denies treatment, patients are not allowed to pay for it out of pocket. What happens today is cost-shifting. The doctors overcharge the private patients to make up the difference.

To: Neeka who wrote (339514)	12/22/2009 2:15:41 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794268

I see Nadine answered....No, we can't pay more. We've been lucky so far...but at what point will the Docs who are good, just say "heck with it ....we're working harder and harder, for less and less, costs are more and more, taxes are more and more....so what exactly is the point???" We will ALL be the losers! Already, as I've said before, Medicare coding is used in many places in most hospitals even if you aren't Medicare age.... We got the Medicare Supplement to help pay for the parts of our bills that Medicare didn't pay....BUT that turns out not to be the way it works.....IF Medicare doesn't APPROVE of the charge, then the Supplement won't pay the bill either. If Medicare pays just part of the bill, the Supplement only pays a percentage of the remaining bill. The supplier has to 'eat' the rest of the bill. Ditto with the folks who come in without insurance. The private pay patients end up paying for those folks too. If a Doctor takes ONE Medicare patient, he has to take all Medicare patients that come to him/her. That's why some of the Docs are starting to NOT take Medicare patients. Then, if you live in this state, there are very few other insurances that will cover anyone after they are 65, other than Medicare.