Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123
Medicare Advantage may be a failed experiment, but so is Traditional Medicare. Medicare fraud is rampant. My mother spent her last 4 months in the hospital or various nursing homes. One medical doctor, who my mother never hired, followed her everywhere she went and billed Medicare for an office visit every day, 7 days per week. She was never hired, and never prescribed any medical treatment. Apparently, she posed as a hospital doctor and got my mother's SSN from her chart. Every day, she would make the rounds visiting her many "patients" in nursing homes and hospitals. Medicare has no checks and balances to determine if a provider was ever even hired by the patient. If they get a bill, they just pay it. At least Medicare Advantage providers have a profit motive to reduce fraud.
The only way to make the system more efficient is to require patients to have "skin in the game" by requiring all patients to pay a copay based on a percentage of the treatment. They need to eliminate free treatments where the patient has no incentive to reduce the cost.
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What is a Medicare Provider Number (MPN)?
A Medicare/Medicaid Provider Number (MPN) verifies that a provider has been Medicare certified and establishes the type of care the provider can perform. This identifier is a six-digit number. The first two digits specify the state in which the provider is located, and the last four digits indicate the type of facility. For ambulatory surgery centers, the MPN is 10 digits — with the first two digits representing the state where the surgery center is located.