Context: Many physicians who opted out of Medicare or who are non-participants cannot see patients with Medicare without severe penalty if the patient submits for reimbursement (intentionally or inadvertently). Therefore, many doctors simply will not chance accepting Medicare patients. This is a huge issue in psychiatry for example in which most prescribers do not accept insurance and there’s already a severe lack of geriatric psychiatrists.
**Solution:**If a patient wants to see a doctor who opted out of Medicare or is a non-participant, the patient should be able to waive their right to submit a claim to Medicare for that doctor and instead pay the full fee out of pocket if they choose to see these doctors. this rule ONLY applies to practices that do not accept any insurance (commercial/private) so practices don’t drop Medicare altogether.
**Implications: **
- expand access to care as more doctors will see Medicare patients
- give patients more doctors to choose from
3. save the government in Medicare costs as it is no longer paying for the doctor visit for those patient who choose to do this for those specific doctors