Will Medicare Business End when Healthcare is Nationalized in the USA?

[sman]

You've made some interesting statements. I assume you have something other than your opinion to back it up.

For example, why would a doctor not accept assignment today but not in the future. Since neither Medicare nor the supplement pays the doctor directly can you imagine the billing a collection nightmare if a doctor opts out of accepting assignment? (I assume you understand this but if not I can explain in greater detail).

Why do you think Medicare pays doctors/hospitals less than private insurance? Do you believe doctors are taking a loss on Medicare patients and if so are they too stupid to stop now but will in the future?

Please respond with less than 500 words.

Rick

I can only speak of a small sample size, but based on EOB's I've seen for my family and then researching what Medicare reimburses for the same services, Medicare reimbursed less than my private insurance. Again, that's a very small sample size. The one other experience I had is a client who worked in the business office at Emory Hospital stated the following:

"Private insurance reimburses more than Medicare and Medicare reimburses more than Medicaid." She went on to say Medicaid reimburses about 10% of charges and there is no way they could stay open with Medicaid reimbursements if that was all they received.

With that said, if we were to go to a Medicare for All system, doctors and hospitals wouldn't have much of a choice unless they only saw cash paying customers.

Ironically, I saw a video clip yesterday of Bernie Sanders in 1987 stating that a single payer system such as Medicaid for All (yes he said Medicaid and not Medicare) in the US would bankrupt the country. To be fair, he was talking with someone from Canada and was asking him to speak to how they do it without bankrupting Canada. But Bernie obviously recognized the impact a single payer system would have on this country. Guess he has forgotten about that.

 

[bobgio]

Bernie Sanders should recuse himself from anything...he's about 2 brain cells from dropping his pants and masturbating in public. How about insurance for all against hearing Bernie Sanders voice, which is like a bag of nails on a chalk board...

 

[Residentzombie]

You've made some interesting statements. I assume you have something other than your opinion to back it up.

For example, why would a doctor not accept assignment today but not in the future. Since neither Medicare nor the supplement pays the doctor directly can you imagine the billing a collection nightmare if a doctor opts out of accepting assignment? (I assume you understand this but if not I can explain in greater detail).

Why do you think Medicare pays doctors/hospitals less than private insurance? Do you believe doctors are taking a loss on Medicare patients and if so are they too stupid to stop now but will in the future?

Please respond with less than 500 words.

Rick

First of all I'll respond with as many words as I feel like. Yes I'm aware that Medicare doesn't send the payment check to the provider and they instead send the 95% payment check to the beneficiary. Medicare does this to discourage doctors from opting out of assignment in fear that the beneficiary won't forward the payment to the provider. Regarding supplement excess charges, the supplement does pay the excess charges directly to the provider if they have electronic billing (someone at my FMO told me this, but I'm not 100% sure).

Hospitals wouldn't have many choices if the Medicare fee schedule was the only way they get payments. Yes most private major medical insurances (not counting Medicare Advantage carrier reimbursement rates) pay much higher compensation than Medicare does. Before they close down shop for good, they would have their backs against a wall and would try this. Extreme situations call for extreme measures. If this failed (which it may) then they would close.

It is well documented that doctors are taking losses accepting Medicare patients and this is why in some areas of America doctors are no longer accepting NEW Medicare patients. Yes I'm aware of the transition rule regarding your current doctor and transitioning into Medicare the doctor cannot refuse your new Medicare status. I will repost the video I posted earlier to help you understand this:



Donald Trump already promised to veto this bill if it were to ever reach his desk, so we won't have to worry about this happening for the next 3 1/2 years at least. Bernie Sanders and friends are just doing this to drum up votes for their reelection campaign.

 

[GreenSky]

Regarding supplement excess charges, the supplement does pay the excess charges directly to the provider if they have electronic billing (someone at my FMO told me this, but I'm not 100% sure).

Nope. Wrong.

You have your OPINION about things but that doesn't make it fact.

And you are right. You can post as many words as you like. Just understand that most of us won't bother reading novels.

Rick

 

[Residentzombie]

Nope. Wrong.

You have your OPINION about things but that doesn't make it fact.

And you are right. You can post as many words as you like. Just understand that most of us won't bother reading novels.

Rick

Okay well I said that I'm not 100% sure about that. Someone at JSA told me that as long as the supplement carrier has electronic billing established that their payment would be sent to the provider and not the policy holder. You tell me differently. I will call Medico agent support right now to clarify and will edit after I get confirmation directly from an insurance carrier.

UPDATE: You are wrong. It depends upon how the provider submits the bill and either scenario is possible as far as the carrier sending the excess charges payment to either the beneficiary or the provider.

 

[GreenSky]

Okay well I said that I'm not 100% sure about that. Someone at JSA told me that as long as the supplement carrier has electronic billing established that their payment would be sent to the provider and not the policy holder. You tell me differently. I will call Medico agent support right now to clarify and will edit after I get confirmation directly from an insurance carrier.

When a provider doesn't accept assignment of the claim, how can payment be made to anyone other than the patient?

Don't bother editing. Not important. We won't think better or worse of you.

Rick

 

[Residentzombie]

When a provider doesn't accept assignment of the claim, how can payment be made to anyone other than the patient?

Don't bother editing. Not important. We won't think better or worse of you.

Rick

I find it interesting that whatever you think is fact and if someone disagrees with you that you stress the word opinion. You seem to be extremely self-righteous. I bet you are someone who never admits that they were wrong about anything.

Regarding the topic of this post 'Medicare for all' it's already a dead issue since Donald Trump confirmed that we would veto the legislation if it ever reached his desk so let's all move on from this subject.

Thank you SMAN for your post and that made me research this video you spoke of. Bernie is proposing this do drum up voters to vote for Democrats and Bernie is aware that President Trump would veto this legislation. Here is Bernie Sanders admitting that 'Medicaid for all' would bankrupt the government.

 

[Todd King]

I find it interesting that whatever you think is fact and if someone disagrees with you that you stress the word opinion. You seem to be extremely self-righteous. I bet you are someone who never admits that they were wrong about anything.

Regarding the topic of this post 'Medicare for all' it's already a dead issue since Donald Trump confirmed that we would veto the legislation if it ever reached his desk so let's all move on from this subject.

Thank you SMAN for your post and that made me research this video you spoke of. Bernie is proposing this do drum up voters to vote for Democrats and Bernie is aware that President Trump would veto this legislation. Here is Bernie Sanders admitting that 'Medicaid for all' would bankrupt the government.

Bernie Sanders Thought Medicaid For All Would Bankrupt America In 1987 - YouTube

Okay, apart from who send money to whom, why would doctors accept Medicare Assignment today, but will be losing money in the future causing them to drop Medicare Assignment? While I understand that they make more money on non-medicare clients, what makes you think they are losing money? Are you just simply saying they are "losing" money when you compare it to the other non-medicare clients they have? If so, that's not a good argument to stand on.