Medicare forbidding open patient/physician relationships?

2011-08-14 Open letter to Congress, August 11, 2011:

Medicare is forbidding private physician/patient relationships (see attached form and explanation, below)

Why are they allowed to have this control of my choice of physician??

I signed up for Medicare, and use it for some doctors.

My gynecologist, Dr. Jennifer Hutchison, opted out of Medicare, but was happy to take
direct payment from me. I value her as a physician and paid directly for a number of years. Now Medicare forbids my gynecologist to see me!

There is a new form that my gynecologist had to sign, this year, to opt out of Medicare.

The crucial phrase she had to agree to, in the first paragraph of the form, is: "I will provide services to Medicare beneficiaries only through private contracts that meet the criteria of #3044.8"

I checked with Dr. Hutchison's office. This means that Dr. Hutchison can only provide service to Medicare beneficiaries if they have private insurance such as Blue Cross or United Healthcare.

Dr. Hutchison is not allowed to enter into a physician/patient relationship with a patient who is a Medicare beneficiary and who chooses to pay for the service directly (even though this would save money for Medicare).

This is a terrible and invasive control of physician/patient relationships!!

Can you do anything to reverse this?

Carol Bernstein, PhD