Letter to the Editor
I've enjoyed Milt Zall's Bureaucratus column for years. The "Medicare rip-offs" column in the March 12 Federal Computer Week hit close
to home.
My 83-year-old mother still has a very sharp mind. She cross checks
all the bills and statements she receives. She is on Medicare but also pays
to continue Blue Cross coverage as a type of gap coverage insurance (my
late father was a postal employee). She tries to report all the billing
errors she catches, including the doctors who claimed to have visited her
during her last hospitalization. She was billed for consultations of doctors
who did little more than walk by. In some cases they never even saw my mother.
Let's not even raise the issue of whether any of the "services" were actually
needed.
But an even bigger issue involves medical equipment. I certainly can
understand that the temporary use of equipment has to be billed at a "reasonable"
recharge rate. Wear and tear is high on some equipment. But for many chronic
conditions, the patient will probably have the device for an extended period
of time (for example, oxygen machines or nebulizers). In those cases, the
cost of the equipment is usually paid off in less than six months, but the
Medicare billing continues monthly and indefinitely.
Given that the original manufacturer or reseller writes this equipment
off in 24 months, why does Medicare continue to pay premium rentals indefinitely?
In some cases as little as three to four months of Medicare payments equal
the purchase price of the equipment. Many of these devices are not available
for sale to patients, even those with prescriptions. And like most equipment
in the rental pool, it tends to be older models that are less user-friendly.
Similar tradeoffs occur between services and equipment. Medicare appears
to have a much easier time approving a wheelchair than it would the physical
therapy that would restore mobility. And of course let's not get into the
absurdity of federal, insurance company, clinic and medical practice forms,
most of which capture redundant information.
Also, given the patterns of prescribing numerous medications for seniors,
isn't it a little odd that most of the forms that ask for your current medications
only give you room to mention one or two drugs? And we're surprised that
physicians don't catch drug interactions.
There's almost no end of items to mention, but I'll stop now. Thanks
for being our eyes and ears for the many outrages that never make it the
general media.
Name withheld upon request
University of Michigan