Wellness

[happycat]

I have been told Medicare doesn't pay as well. I don't think it should be legal for drs to refuse folks, just because they are on medicare.

[Still Raining]

Medicare has always only been an option.  Seems to be more common with physician who do not do services in a hospital, when the hospital will require it.

Check to see what your state does with balance billing.

[Carmie]

Medicare has a low reimbursement rate.  Some services only pay pennies on a dollar. They also do not pay anything for some services like drawing blood, or for some lab fees.

If the doctor accepts Medicare, these low payments and non-covered fees cannot be billed to the patient.

HIPPA, in addition to the privacy concerns, also requires doctors to submit claims electronically, and use certain coding methods. These changes have caused my doctors to retire early and many others to form a large group, so that they can afford the staff and equiptment needed for standard operating and billing.

This equiptment is super expensive.  Insurance companies also had to spend millions of dollars for this.  It made insurance costs go up and many some small companies went out of business.

In some states, like PA where I live, all doctors must accept Medicare allowances and cannot charge the difference between what Medicare allows and the provider's charge.  This is good for me and bad for them.

It is very difficult for doctors to stay in business if they have all Medicare patients.  In order to do so, they must see many, many patients in a day.  Quantity over quality.. that's the reason doctors rush their patents through.  They get paid so little,thatthey need to make up for it by seeing more patients.

If the US goes to socialized medicine, it will get worse.  In our Country, doctors are self employed.  They also pay for their own education.

In most countries with socialized medicine, doctors are employees of the government.  They also get their education paid for. They get paid a salary and usually it' not going to make them wealthy.

I have worked in the health insurance industry a long time.  I am scared for what I know is going to happen with our health care.  If you think it is bad now....just wait.

[Scooby Doo]

Try to find a doctor that is in a clinic attached to a hospital.  They have to take Medicare.  All hospitals are required to take Medicare.  That way the doctor is being paid a salary by the hospital corporation and it won't matter to the doctor if you have Medicare.

[dulwich]

I worked in medical field in CA for quite a few years,  The message from all the Drs/Clinics was do not take Medicare new patients.

Coming from U.K. I did not understand this but was told paperwork involved, amount of reimbursement and the length of time taken not worth it.  All about money.

So many people were turned away.  When we moved to AZ totally different Medicare accepted everywhere, new patients welcome.  

When we came back CA same problem as we had Medicare and our additional carrier did not operate here - luckily we found a new carrier so that plus Medicare works - but here in CA it seems to me nothing has changed re Medicare - not a good scenario.

[ID2]

Wow OP your doctor of that long didn't even sit down with his patients and recommend doctors for them? Really? My PCP I had for almost 40 years and for months before he retired he did his homework with all of his patients and recommeded doctors for them. Me included. 

[shoesnbags]

Around here many doctors do not accept patients with Medicare Advantage plans.  They do accept patients who have traditional Medicare with a supplement.  That's what we have, and we haven't encountered any problems seeing any doctor we wanted.  

[germanshepherdlove]

A lot of large clinics that have all the specialities within a 10 or 20 mi radius don't take Medicare because they are offering their own Part C Advantage Plan which they always claim is superior to Medicare. 

Problem for us, because we don't live in Ca where doctors have a much better reputation for their skill and expertise, is that particular clinic that we went to for years under my husband's health plan through his employer....has awful doctors, rigid in their thinking who get angry if you ask about other types of therapies that are not approved by their superiors and which we had no prior knowledge until they got angry. Had enough of that and were fortunate to find an excellent doctor in private practise who does take Medicare. 

But I still believe that health care is more advanced in Ca and NYC and one's survival is much better...obviously at Johns Hopkins and other medical centers too in Ohio and in AZ and forgive me if I haven't mentioned your fine city too.....

Boo for us since we don't live in any of those cities/states.  

[Lali1]

For the same reason they don't accept other health insurance. Because the insurance does not pay as much as some others do. So the doctors and hospitals work at a discounted rate when they take the insurance. 
I dealt with the situation when I broke my arm in several places Jan 2019. I went to three different preops before I had surgery because the hospital would call me the night before the surgery and inform me they did not take my insurance. I waited 3 weeks to have surgery. My husband was livid. 

[Witchy Woman]

@shoesnbags 

That has been my experience.

I'm a retired Fed and my "supplemental" is a top notch plan offered to me as an employee, and taken into retirement.

My understanding is, Medicare is the primary, and my Federal health plan is secondary.  I've assumed they get paid one way or another.

My GYN (as I mentioned), mentioned outright they didn't do Medicare, but they billed the full amount to my secondary plan.  I didn't pay any portion of the bill.