re: #663 webevintage

I do understand your frustration, but government does not have good track record at holding down costs - just prices. As you point out, they presume to negotiate “fair” prices, but do not address the costs. (That’s actually the entire point of this legislation.)

Your example is one side of the coin. On the other, however, is the town in which I live. As Medicare has become increasingly intrusive, and as reimbursements have been lowered, doctors here have stopped taking new Medicare patients. As a result - in an area of high retirement - we have quite a few older folks with no physician.

It’s because government, via Medicare, chose to focus on the “price” they were prepared to pay, not on the “costs” associated with providing the service. They could mandate “price”, but couldn’t force physicians to accept it.