Elderly Depend on Medicare

Medicare has evolved into a program rather different now than when it started. It covers over 40 million seniors and it has changed the way it is administrated. In addition, poor oversight has caused cutbacks and tight budgets which means that there are cutbacks in services, cutbacks in payments to doctors, hospitals and other medical professionals.

Yet, Medicare still moves on. They have been predicting its demise for years but it is still here. Now, don't get me wrong. It is obvious that Medicare has some serious financial issues. It is also possible that in the years between now and the time the program is supposed to run out of money, there are many things that can be done to straighten out the program by creating better oversight regarding fraud and abuse, creating better incentives for doctors in the program to stay - especially some of the great doctors that are treating Medicare patients at a fracthion of the price that they treat their private patients. This is a sacrifice financially because they care about their Medicare patients.

I have talked to doctors and other healthcare professionals who treat Medicare patients. Some of these have a patient load of 50% Medicare patients. I know of a few that treat nearly all Medicare patients because they have no place else to go. The majority of doctors say they can't afford to take on any new Medicare patients. The sad part of the situation is that with the right "tweaks" many doctors could take a few Medicare patients each. If a doctor is taking home $250,000 per year and took 10% Medicare patients, it wouldn't make him or her go broke, it would bring in extra money and it would help elderly people who need medical care. If he Medicare system could help devise a way where doctors got something out of treating Medicare patients and send out information about this to every doctor in the country, more doctors would be able to take a few Medicare patients and more elderly would be receiving continuous treatment. This would save money for the system because even if these doctors who took 10% of their caseload as Medicare patients and received a small bonus or other perk for doing so, the majority of patients would stay healthier longer and avoid costly trips to the emergency room or costly stays in the hospital or long term care. Medicare pays for these. If a doctor could help Medicare patients stay healthier and out of the hospital, perhaps he/she could receive a bonus which could come from a small percentage of what was saved for Medicare by keeping the patient healthy and at home. So the doctor gets $1,000 and Medicare saves $10,000 to $50,000. That sounds like smart finance and a win-win situation for everyone.

The elderly depend on Medicare. Some still have the means for private insurance, but even so, their Medcare benefits help defray other costs. There are ways to make sure that doctors can afford to treat Medicare patients and make enough money for it to work while at the same time actually saving Medicare money.

I am not privvy to the information being discussed in the battle over Medicare, Social Security and Healthcare by lawmakers on the hill in D.C. I just know that if I can think up something this basic, the leaders who are far more savvy than I am should be able to come up with a solution to keeping our elderly covered by Medicare and our doctors willing to take Medicare patients. There is enough time for these intelligent thinkers to come up with a plan that will work for everyone. This is not a maybe. This is a moral imperative.

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Medicare Needs to Be Fixed

It's no secret that Medicare has some problems and flaws, and it's no secret that some pundits and lawmakers would like to just toss it in the trash and start over - or not. The unfortunate part about eliminating Medicare is the millions of seniors it would affect - seniors who depend upon Medicare to survive - literlly.

Many seniors live on Social Security and bring in well under $1,000 per month to pay all their bills including their rent. They can barely afford to keep the lights on and food on their table, and the only way for them to get medical care is through Medicare.

Even with its flaws, Medicare helps millions of the most vulnerable among us. What would you do if you had diabetes, were 70 years old and had no place to go for treatment and no way to get medication that basically would keep you alive? What about if this was your parent and you didn't have the money to help because you lost your job, your savings and your retirement in the recent downturn in the economy? That's a pretty difficult question to ponder because in many situations we are talking about life and death.

Then there is the next group in their 40's or 50's where Medicare will be critical to them soon - especially if they already have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems or other serious issues. What will they do if lawmakers eliminate Medicare? What if they don't have the money to get care for their medical conditions. I have a mother who helped people get assistance for many years and it was gruesome. It isn't getting more fun as the financial and other problems have gotten worse.

I have read many theories on what to do with Medicare. The most of them made good points on cutting out fraud and waste and changing the system so that those that do certain things to both treat their patients well and keep costs down (it is possible) receive bonuses, while those who don't measure up not only don't receive bonuses but get deductions in pay. If they really don't measure up, they can be investigated and possibly eliminated from being able to be a provider in the Medicare system.

As for fraud and waste, these issues have been handled internally like the fox guarding the hen house, for many years. It is time for an outide independent entity to keep track of checks and balances and make sure they are real. If a medical supply company or doctor's office or hospital orders a certain amount of a particular product or suppy, there should be an outside middleman making sure that what's ordered is received and is paid for to the penny. Just eliminating this kind of fraud will save Medicare according to the CMS at least one billion dollars per year. Think of how many services that would provide.

There wil be no easy fixes, but there are fixes and if the best and brightest lawmakers unite, regardless of party or who likes who, Medicare can not only be fixed - and this may take some time and a lot of work - but the foundation is good, the model is right and Medicare can be fixed before the money runs out, leaving enough for our children and grandchildren rather than leaving them nothing.

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