A few little-known but disturbing facts about Medicare :
• Congress prohibits Medicare patients from paying cash to receive treatment denied by Medicare, unless the doctor agrees not to take Medicare payments for two years.
• Citizens who refuse to sign up for Medicare Part A (hospitalization) lose all Social Security benefits. Citizens who disenroll must repay benefits received.
• Congress is paying Medicare HMOs (Medicare Advantage) 18 percent more per senior than what is paid through traditional Medicare, perhaps to entice seniors to HMOs.
• Congress has begun paying Medicare bonuses to doctors who comply with government and HMO treatment directives.
• Imagine the future. As seniors flood into Medicare, scarce federal dollars will become scarcer. Health care rationing will likely, by necessity, be instituted.
Does that mean you can pay for treatment Medicare refuses, but typically have to go to a different doctor who accepts the cash to get it?