Category Archives: medicare

Congress “Solves” Medicare Cost Problem by Not Paying for Doctors

Posted on June 23, 2010 by admin

By Jane M. Orient, M.D. Nine times in the past eight years, Congress has, at the last second, delayed the automatic cuts in doctors’ Medicare fees that it decreed some 13 years ago to prevent Medicare spending from outpacing other … Continue reading →

Posted in medicare | 10 Comments

While All Eyes Are On BP, Stopping the Medicare Fraud Gusher is Crucial

Posted on June 14, 2010 by admin

by Jane M. Orient, M.D. All eyes are on the BP gusher in the Gulf, spewing pollution over the shoreline, but there’s another big leak that will do even more damage to our economy: the one in the Medicare well.  … Continue reading →

Posted in medicare | 3 Comments

AAPS member featured on NBC News

Posted on June 2, 2010 by admin

AAPS member and director, Juliette Madrigal-Dersch, M.D. was featured in a spot on the NBC news yesterday talking about her decision to opt-out of Medicare.  The 21% cut in Medicare reimbursement that again went in to effect on June 1 is … Continue reading →

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Why I Will Not Take Medicare Money or “How Russ the Plumber got Flushed”

Posted on May 4, 2010 by admin

By Jane M. Orient, M.D., My reason for not accepting government money is a letter dated Feb 4, 1974, the year I graduated from medical school. My father, who owned a small contracting business, thumb-tacked it over his desk, to … Continue reading →

Posted in health care reform, medicare | 6 Comments

Medicare Rationing Begins in January, 2011

Posted on January 9, 2010 by admin

An article by AAPS Director Richard Amerling, MD was featured today at Medical Progress today: House and Senate Democrat leaders, and President Obama, argue that they can “pay for” health insurance “reform” by cutting $500 billion from Medicare spending over … Continue reading →

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Reid bill would “bend the cost curve” up

Posted on December 12, 2009 by admin

The Office of the Actuary of CMS released an analysis of the Reid bill  detailing increases in costs and expenditures, and unrealistic assumptions about Medicare “savings.” The bill is likely to make more providers unwilling to treat Medicare and Medicaid … Continue reading →

Posted in health care reform, medicare | 2 Comments

Myth 24. Medicare is the model of efficiency and fairness.

Posted on October 18, 2009 by admin

Medicare is immensely popular, has very low administrative costs, is already a working model,… it is said: Why not just have Medicare for all? At one time, calling Medicare “socialized medicine for the elderly” caused stunned silence in the Congress. … Continue reading →

Posted in health care reform, medicare, mythbusters | 12 Comments

Medicare veto override a triumph for single-payer advocates, Krugman writes

Posted on July 21, 2008 by admin

Ostensibly, the vote was against pay cuts for doctors. But it was really about “creeping privatization of Medicare,” writes left-wing columnist Paul Krugman. Krugman blames Medicare deficits on the Medicare Modernization Act. Not Part D, but Medicare Advantage private fee-for-service … Continue reading →

Posted in medicare, single payer health care | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Retirees projected to need $225,000 per couple for medical costs

Posted on June 21, 2008 by admin

According to an annual study released by Fidelity Investments, a couple retiring this year will need about $225,000 to cover lifetime medical costs. The study assumes no employer-sponsored retiree coverage. It includes Medicare premium payments, copayments, and deductibles, as well … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, medicare | Leave a comment

U.S. suffers from fiscal cancer, states U.S. Comptroller David Walker

Posted on January 23, 2008 by admin

Ignored by most politicians, David Walker, who heads the Government Accountability Office (GAO), is taking his message on tour. His presentation on the unsustainability of the U.S. economy can be viewed on YouTube. The biggest contributor to the coming fiscal … Continue reading →

Posted in medicare | 2 Comments

Medicare fee cut threatened again; AMA to fight for balance billing

Posted on December 20, 2007 by admin

In what has become an annual ritual, Medicare announces a cut in physicians’ fees, and physicians threaten that patients will lose access to care. And this time they really mean it. An average 10.1% fee cut was slated to take … Continue reading →

Posted in medicare | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments