The Obama Administration’s new federal budget is out and getting hit from all sides. There is no winning with a budget no matter who is putting it together. However, this budget demonstrates the folly of government-run, well, anything.
Contained in this budget is an extension of the “doc fix” that is, delaying again any reduction in physician fees under Medicare. That in itself is not bad as there is not much room for cutting physician fees in any case. What is interesting is one of the ways the extension is going to be paid for. Check this out from Kaiser Health News:
Obama’s budget cutters found savings in smaller nooks, too. The budget says Medicare will save $240 million over 10 years by implementing “prepayment review” before buying power wheelchairs for patients.
That’s potentially bad news for the Scooter Store, a motorized wheelchair retailer based in New Braunfels, Texas. Kim Ross, a consultant who works with physician groups and the retailer, says Medicare already routinely denies orders for the power chairs, forcing the company and patients into a long and costly appeals process.
You know the Scooter Store from its ads on TV, if they qualify you and you do not get approved by Medicare, the scooter is free and if you are approved, you pay little or nothing. On the other hand, the retailer’s consultant claims that the orders are routinely denied by Medicare (if that is true, where are the potential savings?).
Here is the point. Why is it that Medicare keeps finding “savings” (see Medicare Fraud and Abuse, not a new story) to spend elsewhere (I guess they are not really savings are they) from improved administration of claims when the administration of those claims should have been in an aggressive and cost saving mode all along? Why is “prepayment review” just now being implemented?
This is just another example of the absurdity of a massive government program. It simply cannot be run efficiently. Why, because the politicians do not want to upset the beneficiaries (voters), the bureaucrats have no reason to care what and how much is spent and the patient does not care, they “pay for” Medicare after all. If a private insurance company operated like this, managers would be fired, costs would be out of control and ultimately it would be out of business, and yet we criticize insurers for managing claims on the basis they are just interested in profit.
Perhaps, if someone in the government were more interested in “profit” we all would be better off.
Related Articles
- Medicare cuts expected in W.H. budget (politico.com)
- “Obama Budget To Give Physicians Two Year Respite From Medicare Reimbursement Cuts” and related posts (wonkroom.thinkprogress.org)
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