From wheelchairs and walkers to orthopedic shoes and needles, Medicare buys tens of thousands of products every day for elderly Americans. And as the single largest buyer of medical products, you’d think it would at leastget a volume discount.
But it doesn’t. In fact, Medicare doesn’t even get the best price.
According to their own auditors, Medicare knowingly overpays for almost everything it buys. Examples include:
– $7,215 to rent an oxygen concentrator, when the purchase price is $600.
– $4,018 for a standard wheelchair, while the private sector pays $1,048.
– $1,825 for a hospital bed, compared to an Internet price of $1,071.
– $3,335 for a respiratory pump, versus an advertised price of $1,987.
– $82 for a diabetic supply kit, instead of a $47 price on the Web.
But…
But…
Government health care will bring down costs…
And increase competition…
Remember the $600 hammer the Pentagon bought over 20 years ago? Welcome to government health care.
Now, before you say, “Wait, Vincenzo… You’re pro Universal Health care, aren’t you?”
I sure as hell am, but not run by this government in the fashion it has run other programs (especially ones with large budgets and little oversight).