Extra Services May Mean Costlier Medicare

[Kadie]

Extra Services May Mean Costlier Medicare
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, March 31, 2005


(03-31) 20:31 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --


Medicare officials said Thursday that they would study the necessity of extra tests and services being ordered by doctors, a trend leading to a rapid growth in premiums for patients.

Mark McClellan, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said patients are visiting doctors more often and undergoing more, sometimes-costly tests such as MRIs, which provide detailed pictures of the brain.

It's unclear whether all the extra services are necessary, he said.

"We need to do more to understand which services are contributions to good outcomes," McClellan said.

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/03/31/national/w163452S53.DTL