The Issues, No. 23 - Medicare, Health Insurance Providers, and the Medical Profession

From a recent tragic family experience, I am convinced that the medical profession is bilking Medicare and health insurance providers for everything it can get. And Medicare and the health insurance providers seem to go along with it because they pretty much pay what they're billed, without question.

In the first place, I don't understand who establishes the amounts that can be billed for each procedure, doctor's visit, medical item, or prescription drug. Whoever it is doesn't appear to have a grasp on reality because these amounts are totally exhorbitant for practically everything. Secondly, the medical profession seems to think that a patient on Medicare with secondary insurance is ripe for the picking because they seem to oftentimes bill for things they don't even do. They'll bill $60.00 for a doctor's visit in the hospital when the doctor did little more than stick his head in the room and say, "How are you?" What's sad about this is there isn't anyone policing this activity. Most of the time, if the charges are within the guidelines, Medicare will pay what is billed. The medical profession knows exactly how much they can bill and how much they can get away with and, believe me, they are getting away with robbery. They also know that it is difficult for a patient to contest a charge and that 99.99% of the patients won't contest anyway because they aren't paying for it out of their own pockets.

It's no wonder Medicare is such a costly program and it's no wonder health insurance is so expensive. It's no wonder also that doctors make so much money. They are simply robbing America to satisfy their own greed. And even though Medicare covers the medical expenses of older Americans, it still is a huge mess that desparately needs to be fixed before the medical profession ruins it for everyone.

The medical profession has a responsibility in our Democracy too. I think we should be able to get good medical care at reasonable and realistic prices. And instead of a medical profession that seems to exist for the benefit of the medical profession we need to have a medical profession that exists for the benefit of the patient.