Medicare: "Let Seniors Pay More Privately"

Republican Senator Jon Kyl has put a hold on nominating Nancy-AnnDeParle as director of the Medicare program, and is holding out for a White House pledge that it will accept legislation to allow doctors to bypass Medicare price restrictions and bill seniors willing to pay more than the fees set by Medicare privately for their services.

Private contracts would give seniors more freedom to choose their doctors and to be treated by doctors outside the Medicare system, he said, noting that "even beneficiaries of Britain's notoriously inadequate National Health Service have the right to enter into private contracts." The Balanced Budget Act allows doctors to have private contracts with Medicare patients but stops them from sending Medicare bills for patients for two years. Sen Kyl wants that restriction lifted. Mr Kyl's Medicare Beneficiary Freedom to Contract Act has 43 co-sponsors; an identical House bill has 143 co-sponsors. The bills are backed by the American Medical Association and Republican leaders, but the American Association of Retired Persons and many Democrats feel they would undermine Medicare's foundations, expose patients to higher costs and create new opportunities for billing fraud.