Gephardt Ad Quotes Dean Out of Context

[creativelcro]

Gephardt Ad Quotes Dean Out of Context
Tough attack twists Dean’s words about Medicare

January 15, 2004

Summary



Gephardt released possibly the toughest ad by any candidate so far. The 30-second spot called “Know” highlight’s Dean’s past criticism of the Medicare program, and Dean’s stated willingness to consider changes in Social Security to balance the federal budget.



But by quoting Dean as saying Medicare is "one of the worst federal programs ever" the Gephardt ad fails to tell the full story. Dean was criticizing Medicare's administration, not the benefits it provides.


http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=128

[KaraokeKarlton]

1. What else is new? He's been doing that all along.

But that's okay, because soon enough we won't have to listen to it anymore. He's probably going to place 3 or 4th tomorrow in Iowa, at which point he's inevitably out of the race.

[sangha]

2. factcheck.com needs to check the facts

The facts is that Dean *DID* say "Medicare is one of the worst federal programs ever"

Why do they expect a 30-second commercial will "tell the full story"?

[creativelcro]

3. It's .org, not .com. And you need to read what they have to say

because they've researched and documented this carefully.

[sangha]

6. I read it

And it's clear that Dean *DID* say what Gephardt claims Dean said.

[DontBlameMe]

7. Just out of curiosity...

what experience do you have with Medicare from a providers point of view?

[sangha]

8. I am not on Medicare myself

but a few of my closest freinds are. In addition, I work for a charity that, among other things, helps seniors get the care they are entitled to. That's my experience with Medicare.

Why do you ask specifically about the providers pov?

[DontBlameMe]

9. Because I have worked with Medicare...

and other third party programs, as a provider, and I can tell you they suck.

When I hear people question his comments about Medicare, I just wonder what their experience with the whole process is.

That's it, not accusing.

[sangha]

10. I have a freind

who processes medical payments for a center for physical therapy. Her experiences differ from yours. According to her her, private insurers toss about 25% of the claims they receive in the garbage, so she has to resubmit one quarter of her work twice. She doesn't have that problem with Medicare.

Providers are pretty clear on what Medicare covers and what it doesn't. Providers have complained that certain private insurers are not clear as to what they cover and under what conditions.

The operating expenses are lower for Medicare than they are for private insurers.

Besides a generalized "they suck", is there anything specifically inferior about Medicare.

[DontBlameMe]

12. How does waiting...

2 years for a certification sound?

My experience with Medicare was from 1993-98, so things might have changed since then.

I worked for an optometric practice back in the 90's, and on 3 occasions I remember we waited 10 months for certification for newly graduated OD's. On 1 occasion we waited 26-28 months for a certification for our opthamologist(who also happened to be our new owner). On countless occasions we had to resubmit claims, as many as 7 times that I recall.

As for private insurers, I'd say probably 90-95% had a verification call in line. Write down the number, they accepted the claim.

The issue of insurance goes beyond Medicare, however. The entire system is screwed up.

I'm glad your friend had a different experience, because mine was a nightmare.

[sangha]

14. I think things may have changed since then

1) The 25% rate I cited earlier for private insurers has been duplicated in studies. I've heard anecdotes about Medicare, but I've never seen them documented.

2) Certifying doctors may be an important issue to the doctors, but it's not very important to most voters. If your argument here is that Medicare stinks because it makes doctors wait, my response is when doctors fight for me, I'll fight for them.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. Changed since the original quote was made?

Hmmm. Interesting.

[sangha]

19. I was referring to the private insurers

rejection of claims, not the admin of Medicare.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

21. OK.

MediCare is probably in the same situation as it was back then.

As a matter of fact, it'll probably never change. I think it has a solid chance to be a great program in perpetuity.



My bad.

[DontBlameMe]

23. You may be right.

During my time in optometry, I never saw anything like 25% from any third party, with the exception of Medicare. When we did have a problem, it was usually a gap between filing the claim and the patient losing their coverage. Upon resubmittal, we rarely had a problem.

As for certification, your right it's not very important to most voters. It should be. When a practice hires a new doctor, they either have to hold the claims until certification comes through, or they submit it under another doctors ID, which technically constitutes fraud. In this case, the doctor has done nothing wrong, and neither has the patient, but the practice pays the price. Which hampers their ability to provide quality health care.

On edit: The problem with the delay is it's impossible to tell the patient th reason. Say you're scheduled with Dr. Smith, and you don't tell us over the phone that you have Medicare. So, you come in, fill out the forms and voila! we find out you have Medicare. Do I reschedule you with another Dr., who may or may not have space in their schedule, or do I take the chance that no one will find out? Or do I hold the claim and possibly wait 2+ years to get paid?

[DontBlameMe]

13. Then let's talk about reimbursement.

Say I charge $50 for an eye exam. Medicare, IIRC, would reimburse us $36. Flat-top bifocals, we charged $89, Medicare would reimburse us $71, but only if they had a referral from an opthamologist.

Well guess what? The only way you'd get a Medicare referral was if they had cataract surgery. But cataract removal always has 2 or 3 changes to the Rx. But the MD won't refer them if you don't have a change in Rx policy. So, for every Medicare FT28 lens we made we had to eat a minimum of 2 extra sets of lenses. At $6 a piece. Then add in the cost of labor. Then add in the scratch warranty.

Basically we got screwed every time. But you can't turn them away. Optometry lives and breathes on return business and volume.

[sangha]

15. I know a bit about reimbursement rates

and I know that many hospitals consider Medicare patients desirable because of Medicare's reimbursement rates.

[DontBlameMe]

20. For hospitals...

it's a bit different. Why do you think they charge $8 retail for 2 Tylenol(at least that's what my father-in-law was charged last month)?

For optometrists, most of what they do is hardware. When I sell a pair of glasses for $150, it costs me approx. $10 in materials, but it costs me $20 in labor. Then I have to warranty the product, which on some occasions can cause 2 or 3 remakes. All told, for a $150 sale, I might pocket $60 TOPS. Now add in the usual like rent, utilities, etc. The place I worked grossed $8 million a year (12 locations) but only profited $100-200 thousand a year. Not much to grow with.

[Eloriel]

16. And the CONTEXT of that quote, sangha,

was the administration of Medicare.

Hell, he expanded Medicare coverage in his state -- so to have you and Gephardt insisting that what he said meant that he wanted to disband it or something doesn't even pass the common sense test.

You DO care that the candidates, including yours, aren't quoted out of context, don't you?

[sangha]

18. No, that was not the context of that quote

That context may have surrounded other statements from Dean concerning Medicare, as the linked piece shows, but in the instance that Gephardt is quoting, Dean was not talking about the administration.

Also, the administration of Medicare is better than that of private insurers.

Furthermore, I've never heard Dean mention context when talking about his opponents IWR votes.

[sandnsea]

4. Dean took his negative ad down

Gephardt took his down. This is old and done with, for now.

[DontBlameMe]

11. Was this run...

before or after they took the out negative ads?

[LuminousX]

5. Gephardt is running the most negative campaign

and he is reaping the rewards of doing so. He is skyrocketing, right?

[creativelcro]

22. Yup, like Peter Pan

:)