This e-mail is a response to my golden opportunity e-mail of 6-22-
00 concerning reaching out to the Medicare community

Q:

I agree with you about the responsibility we have to help "seniors" in 
our communities.  We have very many Medicare-type patients 
already.  Unfortunately, it is disheartening to consider adding many 
more because we consistently lose money on them.  Not only does 
Medicare severly limit their care, they take as much as 6 months to 
process a claim and then tell you that they will not pay anything for 
this person.  By then, the patient has accumulated a healthy balance 
and we're supposed to go and ask the person on a fixed income to pay 
all of this....

Not only that, lots of seniors are signing up for new "Medicare" plans 
like Blue Choice +  which DO NOT cover chiropractic at all.  So be 
careful when you speak to these individuals about their coverage.

Who ends up as the bad guy here?  You got it.  Most chiropractors I 
know are choosing to be non-participating providers.  So if you're 
going to encourage chiropractors to go scouring the community for 
new seniors to help, be sure to be honest with them that this is a 
service that they are honor-bound to offer but that it will probably 
be more of a charity effort on their part.  Unless their overhead is 
extremely low, they will not experience any profit on this type of 
work and they will drown in the required paperwork.

This is my personal opinion.  We loves seniors and we will continue 
to care for them, but I have my concerns about actively recruiting 
them unless Medicare experiences radical changes.  We currently 
have many thousands of dollars in outstanding, late-processed 
Medicare claims, many of which will never be paid.

A:

Thanks for your e-mail and thought about Medicare and the lack of coverage. I agree 
100+% but the dilemma is what to do about it. Here .. in Atlanta .. I find no problem for 
12 visits or so .. but knowing this coming in I discuss with the patient the concept of 
comprehensive care that far exceeds the Medicare parameters. Then I offer them a choice 
for payment .. but I only schedule my new Medicare patients for 12 visits and we call to 
verify insurance and if deductibles were paid. It would be surprising to note how many 
Medicare aged people have funds in money marklet and stocks accounts. They only need to 
find the value to take it out. Getting the patients in our doors .. young and old .. is the key 
once they are there .. be creative within reason and keep them.

Have a Great Day

Dr. M