Letter to the Editor: SOS
BY Jean Conway, Tulsa
Saturday, September 22, 2012
9/22/12 at 3:04 AM
It is no small wonder that the Medicare system is in distress and needs CPR, when some medical facilities and workers are bilking the system.
For a 10-minute visit by the physician for a simple check without any procedures, Medicare and my supplemental insurance were billed $211. That works out at $1,260 per hour.
I realize there is overhead, but not for that amount. All of a sudden, everybody has sleep apnea and needs a C-PAP machine. The cost of the initial test is exorbitant and the machine rents for $200 per month. I wonder how much the physician gets per recommendation.
New drugs peddled by detail people reward physicians by how many prescriptions they write for that drug with trips to Hawaii, etc.
Why isn't the Medicare administration policing these exorbitant claims? If a patient is left with a balance after Medicare and supplemental insurance has paid, then the claim is too high.
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