Since many of us are going to be on Medicare sooner than later, it is very important to understand what is happening in our Medicare & Medicaid programs. It should be noted that the HUGE FISCAL DEFICIT THAT GW BUSH HAS CREATED WITH HIS INVASION OF IRAQ, is the SINGLE LARGEST CONTRIBUTING FACTOR to these changes in Medicare!
Check this out: Medicare policy linked to prostate surgery shift
Changes in Medicare reimbursement may have led to more prostate cancer patients being surgically castrated instead of being treated with a less invasive alternative, a study shows.
Castration — either through surgery or hormones that block the testosterone that feeds prostate tumors — is a common treatment for certain types of prostate cancer. Research shows that both treatments have the same benefits for fighting cancer, as well as the same negative side effects on sexual function, says Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.
Perhaps it is a matter of time. Castration is short and sweet. The Less invasive alternative may require lengthy visits and treatments. No, that’s not the reason. Here is the REAL REASON!
Hormone therapy has been far more popular, however, with patients and doctors. The number of patients who got the injections rose sharply in the 1990s and early 2000s as the number of surgical castrations decreased. For doctors, giving the hormone injections also was profitable because the Medicare program reimbursed doctors well, Brawley says.
But doctors gave far fewer hormone injections after Medicare slashed what it paid them by half, according to a study released online today in the journal Cancer. From 2003 to 2005, the number of injections fell by 14% while the number of surgical castrations rose 4%, according to the study, which will appear in the May 15 print issue of the journal.
Brawley, who was not involved in the study, notes that urologists now may lose money by prescribing the shots, because Medicare payments don’t always cover the cost of a nurse to administer the injections.
So all you men out there who are considering voting for John McCain better think twice! Because if John McCain gets elected and you end up with Prostate Cancer (which is increasingly likely), you are more than likely going to be castrated! THINK ABOUT IT!
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