Medicare and a Nation of Fools

Medicare is a big fat scam, and it always has been. It’s an adjunct of Social Security, itself a Ponzi scheme.  A Ponzi scheme is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as “an investment swindle in which some early investors are paid off with money put up by later ones in order to encourage more and bigger risks.”

And Social Security and Medicare are funded by federal income tax, that money demanded by the IRS which once received is meted out via “services” to you and me at whatever rate and quantity these envious, wicked, greedy, con artists decide to do it. For forty plus years the unfunded liability of Social Security and Medicare has grown to over 150 trillion dollars and counting. The more DOGE looks, the more they find. Be sure to recognize that massive waste, fraud, and abuse of the taxpayer are at the root of all of it!  And beware that the motive is invariably deceit disguised as a “humanitarian project”.  The cheating and killing have been almost untraceable until DOGE, recently.  Oh, what an insincere display of virtue!

Let me give you an upfront and personal example of this problem and how it abused, wasted, and defrauded me and how it has fooled all of us for the past 40 years.  In fact, I’ve got a personal experience and beef with Medicare that puts me in a position to know more about that crook than anybody else around, especially modern doctors and the political filth that pushes it.  My testimony is true and undisputable, and you would be wise to understand, believe, and act on it. 

When I started my practice of general surgery on July 1, 1985, I had taken over the practice of a 70 year old general surgeon who served Sacramento citizens for many years before that. He was a successful staple of Sacramento medicine and surgery.   And unlike modern surgeons, loved his job and didn’t want to leave. That should tell you something.

How did I make the deal? As a chief resident finishing up my training at UCD medical center just down the street, I simply walked into his office at 51^st and J Street and asked him how to become a private practice surgeon. His answer?  “Take over this operation. I’ll give it to you.” And he did, including his longtime dedicated office staff person, Janet, the office equipment and furniture including patient exam tables and waiting area chairs, surgical instruments, a sterilizer, and much more. He gave me everything I needed for me to start up where he was leaving off.

This was a great old surgeon and that gift was immense. I asked him how to pay him back and he responded …”Just do the same for the next young doc when he or she comes in and asks you that same question at the end or your career!”

Having taken over and taken off, I rapidly recognized the concept of “accounts receivable” which means the time between when you do the operation and when you receive the CASH for that service. Well, I was told not to expect payment for at least 2 months, the standard for that era.

Because I was so jazzed with my new environs and by the rapid appreciation and collegiality of the other Sacramento community physicians that worked at Sutter General, Sutter Memorial and Mercy General hospitals, I made copies of the first two paychecks I received as a memento. Kind of a silly thing to do, but not really. 

Here is a copy of those two amazing checks:

Note first, that these checks were delivered to me on 7/31/1985 and 8/5/1985, just one month since my start date of 7/1/1985.  My new staff person, Janet, was pleased, and I was in awe of what just happened! Second, note the payment amounts are about $840 and $1000.  The payment was right on time and what the market would bear, and that was golden, goodwill business.

Never again did I make a copy of a paycheck, but by 1990 these two procedures, whatever they were, paid about $420 and $500 respectively. That’s not OK. But worse yet, by 1995 these payments went down to $210 and $250 respectively. 

And along with this ridiculous drop in payment, the accounts receivable began to increase drastically, meaning the time waiting for the paltry money paid out increased, and the volume of money in the accounts receivable increased. All of this is over a 10-year increase in standard inflation, and that is unsustainably not OK. It goes against any common sense principle of business, meaning in what other industry outside of physician payment did profit ever go down, not up, considering basic inflation? The answer is none. Doctors are not very smart at business, and it was like taking candy from a baby. We doctors need to get way more business savvy.  

Who did doctors complain to? They complained to no one, but their skill and judgement were now owned by the federal government. Try complaining to your newly defined BOSS and see how far that gets you. That’s the same boss that your and your doctors’ income taxes were collected by and then distributed back  in the name of crooked“services.” That is waste, fraud, and abuse of the working folks that make America tick, and it turns out to be a zero-sum game.

My office worker bailed within a couple of years of my start in practice because of the massive laborious work of getting authorization to get a patient on an operating table, or the submission of my claims, and re-submission of claims, and re-submission of claims yet again until all the t’s were crossed and all the I’s dotted to the satisfaction of bean counters. It’s called red tape or bureaucracy. It was a new kind of worker that tolerated this abuse, and these workers were popular and well paid, otherwise I didn’t get paid. Can you see the hemorrhage of the private practice physician in this scenario? Can you see the similarity in your own industry?

In the end, I had to hire a billing service that I paid 5% of my gross income to work the bills. My staff was paid what the market would bear, including health insurance and workman’s comp insurance, and I would at times sacrifice the money that I needed to pay for my family needs, my mortgage, and yes, my healthcare insurance premiums and my malpractice premiums. In some months, I didn’t pay myself.  

Not only that but the accounts receivable as mentioned above had steadily grown, and I never did collet many thousands of dollars that were owed to me even though I helped lots of patients live on, even at the low rate I was accepting when I was thoroughly and abusively throttled by Medicare after 1995. And I COULD NOT write off any of the free work because the IRS explained to me that claims were “potentially” going to get paid, but they never were. What liars, what fraud, what abuse. This happened to all private practice physicians. Talk about burnout! It was very difficult to provide high quality, attention to detail, delicate and caring surgery for patients who trusted me with their lives.   

Most private practice physicians simply put up with it and joined the system, but I didn’t. I got out. I favor common sense over nonsense, and so should you! Medicare is a flat-out scam, yet most Americans sadly still think everything is OK. But that’s not the Truth!  It’s a lie.  

Here is my point of view regarding this massive problem. The Hippocratic Oath is null and void. Your doctors are slaves to the tyrant, and do only the work needed to maximize the profit and power of this oppressive monster; their skills and judgement are the property of the government. They are stripped of their fundamental rights afforded to free individuals, including the right to own property and make contracts. Trust between doctor and patient is a thing of the past. The brain of a modern-day doctor is hopelessly numb.  Doctors may look wealthy, but they are not.  They are depressed.  New doctors fall into the system with massive student debt, only to find that they have been scammed. Is that the kind of doctor you want?  

The government which the people of this country slowly but surely chose has destroyed the medical profession by its nonsensical, wicked, and selfish actions. It has sucked the initiative, competitive spirit, collegiality, and goodwill right out of the doctors who are supposed to be serving you.

Our big, bloated government and the monopolies that control it have stolen your hard-earned money, your quality of life, and even your health.  Just look around.  Social Security was originally designed to be a form of saving that would keep destitution from following unemployment by reason of death, disability or old age.  Thus, Social Security was adopted, but was NEVER intended to supplant private savings, private insurance, pension programs of unions and industries. But that is exactly what it does, and they are doing a horrible job. Medicare and Social Security are ripping us all off!  

Where do you fit on this spectrum? If you are a senior like me, you might look at your pocketbook and see how well you have done through life. Do you have a form of savings? All of us should have a plan!

We have been blessed, by God, with a priceless and miraculous gift called MAGA and now DOGE.  Talk about answered prayer!  These forces are finally in the process of defining the antics of Social Security and Medicare, and we are getting a clear accounting of “WHERE DID ALL THE MONEY GO?” Shocking!

But there is yet another piece of this puzzle that nobody talks about and that is safety. How safe is the direction we are going? Do patients trust modern doctors?  Do doctors even exist nowadays? When was the last time you went to a doctor’s office and was examined by what you surmised as a warm and trustable doctor?  Were you seen by a physician assistant or a nurse practitioner instead?

Medical and surgical safety are only as good as the quality and payment for services rendered. That’s a very practical matter. So, if you want top notch medical and surgical care, you are going to have to speak up! You are going to have to pay for it!  You’re going to have to get together with your doctors again and set up a free enterprise system better than ever before. I guarantee you this system will be very comfortable, affordable, and safe for everybody.  

California Globe has kindly published previous articles I have written about how to fix medicine. The most recent is, “The Stifled Doctor and Freedom of Medical Enterprise.”  Please check it and others out. I would love to hear your ideas also.  

In summary, President Trump has vowed not to mess with Social Security and Medicare, and I believe him. Why? It’s because YOU are going to do it, friends!  Stay tuned. Now is the time.