Toni Brayer points to a recent ad targeting primary care physicians to buy an unproven device to test balance in seniors:
Through comprehensive physical exam, blood testing and evaluation, I diagnose balance problems all the time. They are multifactoral and very very hard to treat in elderly people. The VatENGplus doesn’t add to the solution and may well divert money away from much needed primary care.
This 20 minute test, which can be performed without a trained technician, pays $475 to $700 per exam by Medicare.
For context, a 15 minute office visit typically pays between $60 to $75.
Until this payment disparity is fixed, cash-strapped primary care doctors will continue to be targeted by unscrupulous companies to provide expensive and unnecessary tests.
No wonder why Medicare is going bankrupt.
