Would someone please explain to me what "Medicare + 5%" means? I mean, politically.

[tblue]

How is that better or worse than anything else? Do progressives, generally speaking, want rates greater than Medicare? What's the argument for it? And where does 5% stand within the range of reasonable possibilities? Is that a lot or a little?

I have no judgment about it either way. I have to confess my ignorance on this point of proposed policy and I like to be informed. Thanks in advance for enlightening me!

[Oregone]

1. "How is that better or worse than anything else?"

Medicare pays low rates to doctors for rendered services. If they use the Medicare rate table, the insurance will be paying out less than if they followed a higher rate table. This saves the government money substantially and could lead to a lower per capita medical expenditure (if enough people are covered by it).

5% is merely an arbitrary number, which is trying to find a middle ground between savings and not paying doctors too little.

[pnwmom]

2. Some doctors are already refusing to take all Medicare patients, saying that

the costs of care are too high. (In addition to more who opt out of Medicaid.)

I guess the hope is that the additional 5% will encourage doctors to accept these patients.