re: #211 goddamnedfrank

I’ve heard from wingnuts that the 33 page form is for Medicare providers. It seems to be a thinly true claim in that the CMS-855 Medicare Enrollment Form can be used to make changes of address by provider.

The CMS 855A form makes the claim that providers can use the PECOS (Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System) on the internet to make changes to their enrollment information. I’m not sure what scope of changes are possible via this method though.

Of course lost in the derp is the fact that Medicare payments to providers can be huge, and that fraud in the system is a real, documented problem. Making sure that crucial information gets cross referenced for a change in where the checks get sent is probably an important way of preventing abuse.

Exactly. Of course, this kind of bureaucracy is part and parcel of a healthcare system that relies on payment for service (and a dizzying array of sources for that payment) rather than direct compensation.

Which is not to say that single payer eliminates the complexity and possibility of fraud altogether, just that a substantial part of the savings comes from overhead reduction.