By: concerned

I'd ask everyone to stop saying the word "Medicare". There is Medicare, national, CMS. And there are the Medicare administrators, which are the private companies (blue cross, cigna, trailblazer, etc.) that create hard to follow rules, deny coverage and have an awful 4-level appeal process that is so stacked towards them, it's hard to know where to begin. Now throw the RAC on top of that, and providers can't win. I've seen to many good & well-intentioned providers who have made mistakes or have been called to the carpet for little things (as described by Mr. Murray in his 7/15, 7:29am post) get screwed by the system. I'm all for catching the fraudulent billers and providers, but not for beating down Average Joe PCP.