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Edited on Sat Sep-12-09 03:58 PM by WillowTree
...that may be what the surgeon, hospital etc. may charge, but it won't cost Medicare anything even vaguely approaching those amounts.
Real life example: My Dad's last hospital bill came to $43,931.36. Medicare allowed $12,038.72 and paid only $11,235.10. The surgeon's bill was $3,220.00 (nephrectomy, a/k/a kidney removal) of which Medicare allowed $1,515.93 and paid $1,212.74. In truth, write-offs of 50-70% such as these (for which no one can be billed and no one is legally liable to pay) are closer to "the rule" than to an "exception", which is, to no small degree, responsible for the fact that an increasing number of physicians are opting out of the Medicare program altogether. Do you think that shouldn't be a concern to the elderly? I'm just sayin'.
Oh, and by the way, how's that Dale Carnegie course workin' out for ya? Cuz I'm quite sure that a whole generation of Americans who worked hard, supported their families and put their kids through school, as well as paying into the SS and Medicare funds since '65, all with far fewer protections and programs to help them out when needed than we enjoy today (some fought in WW II and Korea, too) would be surprised to know that they are now considered "double-triple-quadruple dippers" who have "used up their contributions". Might as well just round them all up and say "Bring on the Death Panels!!" for all your sentiments would mean to them.
For your information, most of those you hear being so vocal about Medicare cuts are elderly, probably infirm to one degree or another, did everything that society and the government said they should and many have seen what was left of their nest eggs shrivel to a fraction of what they were worth just a few years ago. In short, they're old and frightened, and your response is scorn and ridicule. Way to make the Left look good!
Thanks a lot.
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