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2013
Awards
his Medicare reimbursements get whittled down to a small fraction of
what they'd once been.
"I just started treating Medicare patients free of charge," he says.
"The federal government wasn't paying me adequately for what I was
doing. The last anesthetic I gave for a
total knee, I was paid
$78. That's charity.
For me to continue to
participate, that sent
the signal back to
Medicare that I was
OK with that. I just
decided I'd rather do
them free than participate in a robbery,
which is what it was."
He and Dr. Lantier
adopted the same policy when they opened
the surgery center.
"Now I see dealing
with Medicare as
being a willing participant in a Ponzi
scheme that is
financed off the backs
of the unborn," says
Dr. Smith. "It's wrong.
And from a utilitarian
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