Call of the Wild Medicare Nursing Grab

We sometimes forget how our national debt swelled to $35T but are reminded by reports like “The One-Hour Nurse Visits That Let Insurers Collect $15B From Medicare.” Remember the Pentagon’s $600 toilet seat, $435 hammer & $7K aircraft coffee maker?

As the WSJ investigation revealed, “Millions of times each year, insurers send nurses into the homes of Medicare recipients to look them over, run tests & ask dozens of questions The nurses aren’t there to treat anyone. They are gathering new diagnoses that entitle private Medicare Advantage insurers to collect extra money from the federal government.” The newspaper’s investigators alleged the insurers “pushed nurses to run screening tests and add unusual diagnoses, turning the roughly hourlong stops in patients’ homes into an extra $1,818 pr visit, on average.” Those payments added up to about $15 billion,” according to the Journal’s analysis of Medicare data.

Anyone who goes to a new dentist or the pet’s new vet, know how this bill padding schtick goes. I, for one, still remember the $350 bill for my dog’s first visit to Vet X to address a case of the s****. My dog survived his “dehydration” shot and wouldn’t eat the 12 cans of “high protein & vitamin” canine food pushed into my gullible arms that would supposedly ease his pain. Luckily, I rejected a high-res x-ray to confirm (“just to be sure”) that my dog had not swallowed a bone or my bill would have been another $200. Then, there’s the $350 super-duper teeth and wallet cleaning I got from a dentist’s hygienist  to “save my deteriorating gums.” I’ll say no more except, I still have my gums & I never went back for another fleacing.

Davd Soul