« College Basketball leads to Pro Basketball | Main | Politico: Democrats' Worst Nightmare »
January 2, 2010
Mayo Clinic drops Medicare patients in an experiment with Federalism
Mayo tries federalism - you know, the theory no one seems interested in. They're dropping Medicare patients in one state. They're going to see how that goes. Of course, their motives are impugned by leftists.
Robert Berenson, a fellow at the Urban Institute's Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C., said physicians' claims of inadequate reimbursement are overstated. Rather, the program faces a lack of medical providers because not enough new doctors are becoming family doctors, internists and pediatricians who oversee patients' primary care."Some primary care doctors don't have to see Medicare patients because there is an unlimited demand for their services," Berenson said. When patients with private insurance can be treated at 50 percent to 100 percent higher fees, "then Medicare does indeed look like a poor payer," he said.
Well, yeah - when the market pays 50-100% higher than government work, folks will maximize private payers. Now if you surpress the market and force physicians into primary care as a specialty, you can change that. And they wonder why the opponents of Obamacare see this as socialistic?
Posted by CrankyProfessor at January 2, 2010 9:47 AM