On 1/4/2010 10:16 PM, JIM WELLER wrote:
> -=>  Quoting Bill Swisher to Roy Witt<=-
>
>   BS>  As an aside for the medicare.  In Anchorage the newspaper reported
>   BS>  less than 80 GP's willing to take "new" medicare patients

I misremember the numbers, I put a positive spin on them.  I chased the 
article down and according to it:

"Only 13 of 75 primary care doctors surveyed in Anchorage are willing to 
accept new Medicare patients, according to a study by the Institute of 
Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

And only five primary care doctors here who accept new Medicare patients 
are in private practice. The rest work in publicly supported health care 
centers or limited service urgent-care clinics."

Here are the links to the newspaper article and the referenced study:
www.adn.com/news/alaska/anchorage/story/736149.html
www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/Publications/researchsumm/UA_RS14.pdf

As a result of reading the article, when it was published back in March, 
I spent a lot of time examining what my options were regarding Medicare. 
  As a result I've decided NOT to participate in most of Medicare.  They 
can't drop my coverage at age 65, I suspect a lot of private industry 
insurance packages do, to force me into a situation where Medicare is 
the primary policy and they are the secondary.  Part A is automatic and 
at no cost.  Part D is for prescription drugs and GEHA, my medical 
insurance, says in their booklet that I'm just as well/better off 
staying with them for prescriptions.  Plus, because I robbed the cradle, 
I'd be almost 75 before I could drop the GEHA because of Connie.
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