<p>“Anyone who has been responsible for the paperwork of an elderly (age 80+) parent can probably attest to the fact that over-treatment, over-prescribing and fraud is common with Medicare patients.”</p>
<p>I have, and do, and my wife is a hospice nurse, and, yes, Medicare is MUCH more efficient that the private system, with much lower overhead. And anyone who thinks that it is hard for Medicare patients to get into see specialists or primary docs hasn’t visited Florida. (And I’ve related the story of how Medicare got billed for, and paid for, an ambulance and resucitation efforts for my stepfather who had already been dead for two hours.)</p>