Doctors don't have to accept Medicare or any insurance company. They have to 'apply' to Medicare and each insurance company and be 'approved' before they can be compensated by any of them. The government has added so much paperwork to Medicare that doctors say it would take them 8 hours a day to do it themselves. As soon as they build up their practice to where they don't need Medicare, some of them quit accepting it. The rest are obliged to join 'billing companies' who do all their billing and collections and paperwork with the government and insurance companies so they can just see patients. It's cumbersome for patients too: The billing companies are staffed by entry level people who have no medical training so if there is a mistake and you need to call them, you get people who can't fix anything. You have to insist on going up the ladders of administrators to get corrections - it takes hours and hours and days and days. I have friends and family members who are doctors - they live in other states too far away for me to go to them for health care.

I am making note of the health insurance companies that people say they are happy with. Thank you all for your input. Peggy

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