Murkowski Touts Medicare Access Bill

Murkowski says her approach is simple -- but currently against the law.

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By Bill McAllister
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Story Created: Jun 1, 2011 at 5:28 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Jun 1, 2011 at 7:52 PM AKDT

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski says she has a partial solution for the Medicare crisis in Alaska.

Murkowski says her approach is simple -- but currently against the law.
 
 She wants to give physicians the ability to treat Medicare patients without opting into the system, creating the opportunity for physicians and patients to negotiate payment for charges that Medicare won't cover.
 
Alaska has been at a disadvantage under current Medicare rules because of relatively few physicians and higher costs for services.
 
 One physician said that it took her six privately insured patients to make up the losses from one Medicare patient.
 
Murkowski says physicians have been hampered by the all-or-nothing choice of taking Medicare patients.
 
Under her bill, the prevailing Medicare rates could be applied to a patient's charges, without forcing a doctor to take Medicare patients generally.
 
Physicians could offer discounts if they so chose, and patients could negotiate contracts to pay the balance left over after applying Medicare and private insurance.
 
Murkowski says that the current and recent secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services have argued that they oppose the concept because Medicare is a promise to senior citizens that should be honored.
 
"And my point to both of them was, I understand that. I appreciate it. But in Alaska, that bus ticket, if you will, when you turn 65 and you get that Medicare card, you now have a bus ticket but there's no bus that shows up in Alaska because we don't have the providers who will see you."
 
Micky Becker, a frustrated patient, said, “It has taken me three and a half years since I turned 65 to find a primary care physician who would take me on. I've paid into Medicare and I'm still working and I'm still paying into Medicare. And I think this legislation is an option that will help a huge percentage of those over 65 in Alaska to find primary care."
 
Murkowski acknowledges that her bill is not a silver bullet.
 
And she agreed that it does nothing to stem the growing national debt.
 
Medicare must be part of entitlement reform, she said, but it must be kept secure nonetheless.

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