This is great news!
Quote from: itsApril. . . will folks be able to find a capable surgeon willing to take Medicare assignment?
From the article linked in Stephanie's post:
"...Lauderdale was covered by United Healthcare through Medicare Advantage, a government-run program that compensates private insurers for patients who qualify for subsidized health care. Lauderdale was denied coverage for the procedures in 2014, leading to a series of appeals resulting in this month's decision in her favor."The way this works is that one consults a surgeon as the first step in getting coverage; the surgeon then sends a request for authorization to the insurance provider. If coverage is denied, then the patient goes through an appeals process, generally with the support of the surgeon.
It follows from this that since Ms. Lauderdale's surgeon applied for coverage by Medicare, that one surgeon, at least, is willing to accept payment from that source. If Ms. Lauderdale is smart and persistent enough to have pursued this to a successful outcome, I'd be willing to bet that she's also smart enough to have chosen her surgeon wisely.
I'd also be willing to bet that there are others. Many surgeons do actually believe that their primary job is to help people, and they put that ahead of lining their pockets.
In my opinion (for what it's worth) it's unethical for a qualified surgeon to refuse to accept insurance for medically necessary procedures.
