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money.cnn.com/2012/10/04/news/companies/medicare-fraud/?npt=NP1
Since Medicare was a topic of interest in last night’s presidential debate, the timing of these raids may be coincidence, or NOT.
President Obama made the often repeated claim that Medicare has lower administration costs than private insurance companies and Governor Romney said that in his experience the private sector is usually more efficient. The health professionals that I know personally tell me that Medicare forces a large part of the the administration cost onto the providers. In other words, Medicare does not reduce costs, it shifts costs to others. My optometrist told me she could charge 25% less for her services if she did not have to deal with insurance companies. Eyeglasses and contact lenses are not so expensive or so frequently required that people cannot plan ahead for them.
Also, on CNBC today, several guest mentioned that Medicare fraud is a bigger hole in the budget than President Obama plans to raise by raising taxes on the rich. Sixty Minutes had a story years ago about how Medicare sometimes approved three prostetic legs for the same patient in Florida. Maybe Medicare needs to do a better job with its administration, of maybe the real solution really is to get private markets more involved where the companies have a real incentive to end fraud by providers.
Since Medicare was a topic of interest in last night’s presidential debate, the timing of these raids may be coincidence, or NOT.
President Obama made the often repeated claim that Medicare has lower administration costs than private insurance companies and Governor Romney said that in his experience the private sector is usually more efficient. The health professionals that I know personally tell me that Medicare forces a large part of the the administration cost onto the providers. In other words, Medicare does not reduce costs, it shifts costs to others. My optometrist told me she could charge 25% less for her services if she did not have to deal with insurance companies. Eyeglasses and contact lenses are not so expensive or so frequently required that people cannot plan ahead for them.
Also, on CNBC today, several guest mentioned that Medicare fraud is a bigger hole in the budget than President Obama plans to raise by raising taxes on the rich. Sixty Minutes had a story years ago about how Medicare sometimes approved three prostetic legs for the same patient in Florida. Maybe Medicare needs to do a better job with its administration, of maybe the real solution really is to get private markets more involved where the companies have a real incentive to end fraud by providers.