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| Senior Citizen Protesting on Medicare Cuts for Doctors http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2097/ |
Transparency promotes accountability. That is what Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) proposed in a bill filed last April 7.
In their proposal physicians who charge Medicare for services rendered to senior citizens on a per-service basis (such as vaccinations, level 4 office visits, laboratories and chest X-rays) will be posted online. The bill proposed that access to individual items and services will be provided for free.
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| Sen. Charles Grassley http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5182/ |
By keeping it online, the proponents intends to make these information public and open for scrutiny by watchdogs for fraud, corruption, abuse and waste of public funds.
The American Medical Association (AMA) however argues that physicians need their privacy and keeping Medicare billing information will put the doctors at "significant risk for identity theft". The AMA also contend that other government agencies (such as Department of Justice and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services) are already in place to monitor for anomalies in Medicare billing.
In a report published by The Wall Street Journal last year, several doctors were found to have billed more than $1 million in diagnostic procedures among senior citizens.
Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions: Get the Most Out of Your Retirement & Medical Benefits
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