Wondering how many Canadians cancelling trip south

John&Joey wrote:

What you are stating is what is known as "consignment." A doctor does not have to follow those rate structures. They can charge whatever they want and the person will have to come up with the rest. I'm guessing you have extra insurance. Next time you go into the hospital ask only for SS "consignment" rates and see how far you get.

It is called assignment. Yes, that is what I'm talking about - and we never have had a problem finding physicians who accept assignment. Our primary care physicians are now in the Mesa, AZ area, where there is a huge senior population and thus they accept Medicare patients. So doesn't matter what they charge, what they get is determined by what Medicare approves - Medicare pays 80% of the approved amount, our supplemental insurance pays the other 20%. The only extra that we pay for is to the ophthalmologist when they give us a new prescription for our glasses. That isn't covered by Medicare (except for the first one after cataract surgery), otherwise we never pay anything.

If you think about, most of the specialists who deal with aging patients (like the big bulge called baby boomers) would have a difficult time staying in practice without their Medicare patients. That's why the life span has increased in the US. Opthalmologists, cardiologists, rhuematologists, orthopedists, oncologists, etc. al deal with mostly elderly patients and do fine on Medicare.

And all of the hospitals, and their associated clinics, that I know about accept Medicare.

Barb