Congress Seeks Your Opinion on Medicare

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has alerted us that the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee is conducting a review of the Medicare program. The House is working with the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), the agency responsible for the Medicare program, to "eliminate waste, mismanagement and bureaucratic delays" in the program.

The ACA, you'll recall, is suing the HCFA over its Medicare+ regulations, which is Medicare's managed care plan.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has set up a web page to survey Medicare providers. That website is: www.house.gov/commerce/hcfasurvey.htm. The survey covers such areas as problems in filing claims; understanding regulations; the relationship between provider and carriers; audits; and appeals.

It's not every day that Congress asks for specific input about your practice. Take this opportunity to report your experience with the Medicare program.

You'll particularly like survey question 11: "As a provider of health care, what recommendations would you make to Congress on how we can improve our federal health care delivery system? Please provide specifics."