A pilot study of medicare patients' experiences and attitudes

There has been widespread interest in the effect the Medicare law has had on the level of physicians' charges. This subject and other aspects of the present Medicare method of physician reimbursement is currently under study by Congress and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. A group of Medicare patients recently seen and treated by the author were queried as to their experiences in paying for physicians' services under Medicare. A 64 percent response rate and the substance of the replies to a questionnaire suggests that this is a feasible mechanism for eliciting the attitudes and problems in a group of patients in the Medicare program.