Medicare and Medicaid account for $1.6 trillion of spending every year. That chunk of change is wrangled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services. Effectively, the CEO of that operation is the CMS “Administrator,” currently Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. As such, Brooks-LaSure is one of the most powerful people in healthcare, especially given that CMS has enormous regulatory authority over hospitals in the United States. CMS dictates a lot, from reimbursement rates to physicians to quality metrics that hospitals must follow (unless they want to fail an inspection).
I found Brooks-LaSure's responses disappointing, but not surprising. Hardly anything substantive; just assurances that they are taking everything seriously; deferring to Congress when possible. It's good to have such conversations, and if there are enough people bringing up issues (and perhaps a few organizations with specific focus), perhaps there will be some movement. The nursing home/rehab center crisis is ongoing, with no end in sight (an area where friends and family have had personal experience, mostly unsatisfactory). I won't comment on the other issues raised - not enough time! But you have raised the issues, and there hasn't been anything in the responses that lead me to believe things will improve, absent the political pressure that isn't likely to happen until after next year's elections, if at all.
JL, I see your glass is half empty. Low expectations may be prudent but, over 30 years of pro-bono working assisting patients & the occasional Providers has demonstrated improvements in both Parts A & B.
If a patient has no taste or ability for administrative & policy battles, I recommend to anyone to purchase a MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT insurance policy BEFORE retirement. I used my professional status to purchase such a "supplemental Medicare coverage" through Transamerica.
Do NOT confuse "Medicare Supp insurance' policies with "Medicare Advantage policies.
My Group Policy doe the following.
1, Pays for my Medicare premium costs.
2. Automatically sends any & all Medicare payments to the supplemental insurance carrier. I do not have take any additional steps to obtain full coverage. No hassles with overworked & tired doctors' office Staff. Watch the smiles break out when you advise, " I got Medicare Supp coverage".
Thanks, Bryan - I'm glad to hear there have been improvements over the past 30 years, but my comment was addressed to the bureaucratic-speak responses to Dr. Faust's questions. Probably that's all one can expect in a public forum, and I hope there are things going on behind the scenes that will result in improvements in the multiple areas that need it. -- That said, I wholeheartedly agree with your comments about a good Medicare supplement policy; I have one, which does everything you mention (except quarterly statements). But they are not available to everyone, nor can everyone afford them. And everyone should be aware that Medicare "Advantage" (misleading name) policies generally provide a lot less. They may be a better choice for a few people, based on their specific situations, but on the whole, it appears to me that those policies seriously limit choices when the going gets difficult. Anecdotal evidence from a few friends and acquaintances is consistent with that.
Safety and timely patient transfer is broken resulting in horrifying outcomes for healthcare recipients, their families and healthcare providers. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/11/04/florida-guardianship-investigation-safeguards/
I found Brooks-LaSure's responses disappointing, but not surprising. Hardly anything substantive; just assurances that they are taking everything seriously; deferring to Congress when possible. It's good to have such conversations, and if there are enough people bringing up issues (and perhaps a few organizations with specific focus), perhaps there will be some movement. The nursing home/rehab center crisis is ongoing, with no end in sight (an area where friends and family have had personal experience, mostly unsatisfactory). I won't comment on the other issues raised - not enough time! But you have raised the issues, and there hasn't been anything in the responses that lead me to believe things will improve, absent the political pressure that isn't likely to happen until after next year's elections, if at all.
JL, I see your glass is half empty. Low expectations may be prudent but, over 30 years of pro-bono working assisting patients & the occasional Providers has demonstrated improvements in both Parts A & B.
If a patient has no taste or ability for administrative & policy battles, I recommend to anyone to purchase a MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT insurance policy BEFORE retirement. I used my professional status to purchase such a "supplemental Medicare coverage" through Transamerica.
Do NOT confuse "Medicare Supp insurance' policies with "Medicare Advantage policies.
My Group Policy doe the following.
1, Pays for my Medicare premium costs.
2. Automatically sends any & all Medicare payments to the supplemental insurance carrier. I do not have take any additional steps to obtain full coverage. No hassles with overworked & tired doctors' office Staff. Watch the smiles break out when you advise, " I got Medicare Supp coverage".
3. Sends me emails regarding supplemental claim processing & handy quarterly statements..
4. Pays fully for world-class oncology treatment of a spouse at UCSF in the Bay Area, CA.
5. Eliminates the need for the intervention of a smarty-pants Pro-bono, retired lawyer to ZERO.
,
Read the policies, know the rules & simplify medical treatment billing. : )
Thanks, Bryan - I'm glad to hear there have been improvements over the past 30 years, but my comment was addressed to the bureaucratic-speak responses to Dr. Faust's questions. Probably that's all one can expect in a public forum, and I hope there are things going on behind the scenes that will result in improvements in the multiple areas that need it. -- That said, I wholeheartedly agree with your comments about a good Medicare supplement policy; I have one, which does everything you mention (except quarterly statements). But they are not available to everyone, nor can everyone afford them. And everyone should be aware that Medicare "Advantage" (misleading name) policies generally provide a lot less. They may be a better choice for a few people, based on their specific situations, but on the whole, it appears to me that those policies seriously limit choices when the going gets difficult. Anecdotal evidence from a few friends and acquaintances is consistent with that.
Well & carefully said.&; concur on all points.