Corruption in Medicare

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you felt pressured to offer a "tip" or an envelope to a doctor or a nurse, or maybe they were the ones dropping hints first?
Did they actually take it, or did they turn you down?
If a doctor straight-up asked you for a bribe, would you actually report them?
I’m curious to hear what your experiences have been regarding bribery within the American healthcare system.

No
N/A
Yeah
N/A

dustycanyon6 said:No,
N/A
Yeah,
N/A

I suppose I’m echoing what dustycanyon6 said—honestly, I don't see it any other way.🙂

I’ve had some pretty terrible experiences when it comes to bribery within the healthcare system. Honestly, I’ve bumped into so many people sharing the exact same stories that it actually nudged me to start this thread.

It feels to me like this kind of corruption is actually more prevalent in smaller towns than it is in Washington, D.C. Am I off base there?

Nicole Sanchez45 said:Have you ever considered offering an "envelope" to a doctor or perhaps some of the lower-level medical staff... or maybe they were the ones who initiated the request themselves?
Did they let her in, or was she turned away?...

I wasn't exactly making an offer. They were the ones asking... mostly through the nursing staff. We're looking at somewhere between $1,000 and $3,000...
Besides that, they were asking about the inpatient hospital benefits starting from... $67 Daily coverage... plus those extra stipends for medication costs... $57 Every single day... even though those medications were technically covered by Medicare. But let me tell you, if you don't cough up the cash, they just tell you "we don't have any in stock," leaving your own family members to suffer through it... I'm talking about those morphine injections and patches. And that was the routine for eight long months. Just imagine that...
Between all those lattes, perfumes, and other little luxuries... I ended up shelling out about... well, let's just say it was quite a bit over eight months just to cover my nursing care... $30.
And let's not even get started on the costs for surgeries... those are a whole different beast entirely.

Nicole Sanchez45 said:Would you report a doctor if they were asking for a bribe?

I am. It’s still functioning... Every single day, it protects everyone. There really isn't any chance for the average person here. Doctors always act like they're some kind of "higher" beings...🙂

NAPOMENA:
Dr. Paladino was the only one who didn't try to shake me down for a bribe, nor would he even touch two bottles of fine wine offered as a thank you. He simply told me, "I don't perform surgery on your mother for the money; I do it for you and for her." Such a wonderful man...🙂

Thanks so much for sharing this!
On another forum, people were claiming that doctors asking for kickbacks are a tiny minority, but honestly, my own experiences have been a total contrast to that!
It’s just a shame more people aren't speaking up about what they've dealt with. I won't go naming names, obviously, but you know what I mean.

In any case, Dr. Paladino is such a class act and a true exception to the rule. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about him, and I really, truly hope the rest of the medical community starts following his lead soon!

This isn't strictly on topic, but I am just so incredibly disillusioned with our healthcare system... To give you an idea, my father passed away just two and a half weeks ago. When the ambulance finally arrived to take him to the ER, he and my mother ended up sitting there for four and a half grueling hours at the hospital's cardiology unit (emergency 😲) before anyone even looked at him. And the worst part? It wasn't even that crowded. You could see doctors just wandering aimlessly from one side of the hall to the other... it was absolutely appalling!!! 😲 🙄 😢 😢 😢

Just horrific! 😢

Ugh, I am so incredibly sorry, Jessica Roberts19 😢 hang in there 😢

I feel terribly for Jessica Roberts19

Personally, my own experiences with Medicare haven't been nearly as grim—I’ve never personally encountered a situation where a doctor demanded a bribe, though I’ve certainly heard the stories floating around.

I am aware of instances where money was handed to doctors, but that was usually out of gratitude rather than some shady demand for payment in exchange for care.

That said, both of my parents have had significant health struggles; my mother has undergone four surgeries, my father has had three, and I’ve gone under the knife twice myself. My father is quite ill at the moment and is currently receiving treatment at the Mayo Clinic, handled entirely by the book and without any shady side deals.

My dear Jessica Roberts19, I know exactly what you’re talking about. My late father went through the exact same nightmare. When the paramedics arrived, the driver actually told us they needed to find someone else to transport him because he had sciatica and his back was killing him. The doctor didn't say a single word; he just got up and sat in the vehicle waiting. So, my father ended up at the hospital in Washington, D.C., suffering from severe pneumonia and fluid in his lungs, only to be left sitting in a hallway for five and a half hours in the middle of winter. I kept begging them to at least give him a blanket, but they wouldn't—they said they couldn't, or didn't have any... anything. They wouldn't even let us into a proper ward; we were just stuck in the hallway in a freezing draft. Eventually, they sent him right back home, telling us to just manage with his prescribed medication. A week and a half later, he passed away—from pneumonia! And that's in this day and age!

Regarding the bribery issue, I really wanted to see what everyone here thought because people on another forum were attacking me, claiming that Medicare isn't corrupt. Well, I have completely different experiences! 👎

I haven't had any bad experiences personally, but I’ve heard that at certain hospitals, they practically demand extra fees just to handle a delivery... I can't say for sure about all of them...

but I suspect that bribing for surgeries is actually pretty common...

especially when I see how some doctors in my area live and what kind of neighbors they turn out to be... honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if someone ended up losing their head just so it could be sold for a good profit🙄

It isn’t really about seeking some kind of reimbursement for the delivery itself; rather, it’s about physicians offering—or patients requesting—to have a specific doctor present during labor, and they charge a premium for that privilege. Essentially, it means you have the ability to call the exact doctor you’ve coordinated with at any hour of the day or night, and they will show up for the birth, regardless of whether they are actually on call or not.

Yeah, they’re even trying to charge extra for C-sections, even when it's a medical necessity rather than a choice... honestly, it's just gross👎

I was just catching up with my best friend earlier today... Her dad is scheduled to get a stent put in in about two months, but there’s this weird situation going on. The doctor isn't straight-up asking for a bribe, but he's heavily implying that if they want the procedure to happen soon, they need to keep coming back to his private practice for all his follow-ups. It’s costing him roughly $333 per visit, and they’ve already had several, with at least two or three more on the horizon. Basically, if they don't play along with this "private" arrangement, they're telling him he might have to wait a whole year for the surgery—which, honestly, he wouldn't survive...

Nicole Sanchez45 said:Have you ever offered an "envelope" to a doctor or some medical staff—or maybe they were the ones asking for it?
Did they take it or turn it down?
Would you actually report a doctor if they asked you for a bribe?
What’s been your experience with bribery in the American healthcare system?

1. No.
2. See above.
3. Yeah, I would.
4. My experiences have been fine—I don't hand out cash—but I know some doctors definitely earn that "medical mafia" reputation for a reason.

Casey Palmer5 said:I was just catching up with my best friend earlier today... Her dad is scheduled for a stent placement in about two months, but the doctor isn't asking for a bribe outright or anything. Instead, he’s insisting they come to his private practice for all the follow-up appointments, which end up costing about $333 per visit. They've already had several, and there are at least another 2 or 3 more on the schedule. If they don't play along, they told him he might have to wait a year for the actual procedure—which is a timeline he just wouldn't survive.

That’s exactly how they bleed people dry. I had a neighbor who was diagnosed with brain cancer. During that very first specialist consultation, the doctor looked her husband in the eye and said surgery was absolutely inevitable and extremely urgent. He offered to recommend them to a "truly elite surgeon," but hinted that, essentially, they needed to put $1,800 in an envelope right away. Of course, being desperate, the man booked the appointment immediately, took out a loan, put the cash in the envelope, and rushed his wife to the hospital. She ended up going under the knife within three days.
It’s been about 18 months since that happened. In the meantime, they actually had to take out a second mortgage on their house because the "medical expenses" were just overwhelming.
The worst part is, she’s getting worse, and it really looks like there's no hope left.......

@ placidjackal97

Just try to imagine a situation where there's no room for joking around or empty talk on a forum. Like, if your spouse falls seriously ill and, just like the situation I described, you need to conjure up a massive amount of money in three days. Would you even hesitate? Would you even have the luxury of time to weigh other options, or would you just toss your own principles out the window in that moment?

Honestly, I would!

But I still can’t quite wrap my head around why people who actually went out of their way to ask for money to get things done aren't reporting those doctors? 😕

I suppose you can still file a report even after the treatment is finished, I guess... 😉

I’ve never actually handed over cash to anyone like this before... but I’m totally with Nicole Sanchez45 on this one. I’m heading back to the States soon and honestly, that’s my biggest fear. Everything feels fine until your health goes south. Here, I’m paying $333 every single month for insurance, but back home it's supposed to be "free," which is exactly why everything is such a disaster.

Elizabeth Foster20, I don't even know if reporting them would change a thing... they all just look out for each other.
A buddy of mine actually paid some guy a few thousand bucks just to make sure he could be there when his wife was giving birth—it was a really rough pregnancy. He said he would've shelled out way more, money didn't matter, he just needed everything to be okay.
That's exactly what I'd do. But let's be real: if you don't have the cash, you're basically on your own to die.

copperridge912 said:Elizabeth Foster20, I’m honestly not sure if reporting them would even make a dent... people tend to look the other way when they're all in it together.

I suppose until there's some kind of systematic effort to report every single bribe attempt, things aren't going to change—not anytime soon, anyway.

copperridge912 said:A friend of mine actually paid some doctor a few thousand dollars just to ensure he could be there when his wife was giving birth—it was a high-risk pregnancy, you see. He mentioned he would have paid even more if necessary; money wasn't the issue, he just wanted everything to go smoothly.
I might have done the same thing, truth be told. But then again, if you don't have the cash, you're basically on your own when things go south.

I can see that logic, and I probably would have acted similarly under those circumstances, but shouldn't he have reported him once the baby was born? Or rather, after the fact? Neither he nor anyone else being shaken down seems interested in doing that—and I suspect my friend isn't the only one who's been through this.

Of course he didn't report it... he's just thrilled everything went "perfectly."
I mean, I get it, nothing's ever gonna change if nobody actually speaks up.
Totally random tangent here, but I gotta get this off my chest: in this "flawless" healthcare system of ours, a woman recently died in Chicago. She was waiting on a heart transplant, and when her big moment finally came, they gave her the wrong blood type. Like, seriously? Nobody bothered to double-check the blood type and she died right there on the operating table.