Future doctors and other health-care providers should consider
earning law degrees along with their medical and professional
degrees. They'll probably need them to defend themselves in court
if Congress doesn't change Medicare law in a fundamental way.
There are tens of thousands of pages of Medicare rules, policies,
regulations and related forms-and the proposed prescription drug
entitlement, already a complicated mess, will just increase that
figure. That means health-care providers will spend even more time
on paperwork, not patient work, each day.
As Heritage Foundation legal expert Paul Rosenzweig points out,
doctors especially can suffer from this burden of regulations. Take
John Kiraly. The California oncologist spent more than 2 ½
years and $10,000 in legal fees fighting a government audit that
mistakenly claimed he overcharged Medicare by more than $58,000.
Dr. Carol Vargo of Montana fought the federal government for five
years because of a Medicare billing mishap. During that time, she
had more than $300,000 in legal bills-and a blood clot in her lungs
that her doctors attributed to stress.
Medicare has helped millions of seniors. But Medicare also has
hurt many doctors who are helping people in it. The recently-passed
House Medicare bill makes some progress in reducing the regulatory
burden on them. But only with real reform will there be real
relief.
For more information or to receive an e-mail version of
"Medicare Maladies," contact [email protected] or call
Heritage Media Services at (202) 675-1761.
Medicare Malady #50: How Medicare Forces Your M.D. To Need A J.D.
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