"Medicare currently pays less than what it costs to provide for a lot of services"
Is that even true? Personally I have my doubts.
Is that even true? Personally I have my doubts.
FINDINGS
In the aggregate, both Medicare and Medicaid payments fell below costs in 2016:
- Combined underpayments were $68.8 billion in 2016. This includes a shortfall of $48.8 billion for Medicare and $20.0 billion for Medicaid.
-For Medicare, hospitals received payment of only 87 cents for every dollar spent by hospitals caring for Medicare patients in 2016.
- For Medicaid, hospitals received payment of only 88 cents for every dollar spent by hospitals caring for Medicaid patients in 2016.
- In 2016, 66 percent of hospitals received Medicare payments less than cost, while 61 percent of hospitals received Medicaid payments less than cost.
[0] https://www.aha.org/data-insights/2018-01-03-underpayment-me...
Is that even true? Personally I have my doubts.
Is that the actual cost of the item or the obscene markup? Is medicare only paying $2.20 for the $2.50 saline bag, or are they only paying $176 of the $200 charge?