Science News examines Medicare bidding program

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 10, 2013—The Jan. 7 issue of Science News attacks the mathematical underpinnings of Medicare’s competitive bidding program. According to the American Association for Homecare, the article by Julie Rehmeyer states that “Medicare could waste billions of dollars, bankrupt small businesses and leave seniors without crucial medical equipment, some economists warn, with a new auction-based purchasing plan that ignores mathematical principles of competitive bidding… As a bidder in this system, the rational thing to do is to bid really, really low. After all, your bid doesn’t determine what you’ll be paid.”

The author mentions the MPP legislation, H.R. 6490, which “would force Medicare’s administrators to do what [Congressman Tom Price] says they should have done in the first place: Ask bidding experts for help designing an efficient system.”

Science News is published by the Society for Science and the Public, which promotes the understanding of science. Read the full text here.