That’s the problem Sambuca and it goes back to a problem that isn’t going away, namely an aging population that doesn’t earn income while simultaneously putting an enormous strain on Government subsidized healthcare: Medicare and Medicaid. CMS has in litigation matters gotten a bit more aggressive in perfecting Medicare liens on liability and worker’s compensation settlements, and similarly the States have also gotten aggressive with Medicaid liens for assistance or medical treatment. The problem is in non litigation matters there is no way to recoup these monies. So what they do is erect hurdles to treatment, much like private insurers. You cannot get an MRI unless you go for physical therapy first. I had X Rays showing that I have a very serious cervical stenosis and resulting pain, but they wouldn’t send me for an MRI that might have identified the pain generating level of the spine. Instead I went for PT and cervical traction which, fortunately for me, worked. MRIs can cost $2000 a pop so they don’t want to do it unless absolutely necessary. So this is what a lot of older patients deal with now. And they really don’t know what to do when these semi artificial hurdles to treatnent are erected. In some cases they just suffer. A lot of it is procedural nonsense of procedures having to be pre-approved or certified. Medications have to be pre-authorized. The one area where there has been a massive crackdown is painkillers. Some docs just stopped prescribing them and sleep medicine. Too much risk.
However I have had some very positive experiences as far as quality of medical treatment in the area where I live. The cost issue is another matter. I am now on a high deductible plan. It’s $3,000 deductible and $5000 maximum out of pocket. I will hit both numbers with ease this year. What I did was I dropped $3400 in an HSA and took a deduction for it. That somewhat eases what is otherwise a huge punch in the stomach. Once Medicare kicks in for me down the road I don’t know what that will be like. But the healthcare costs that are draining Medicare are chiefly due to the aging population. The amount of money spent on the Medicare eligible population is what is driving a lot of these costs. And Medicare often pays a fraction of what is billed and the remainder is adjusted. But it still adds up.