Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties are classified by the United States Government as one metropolitan area because of their social and economic similarities.

So why do seniors in Miami-Dade receive thousands of dollars a year more in benefits from private Medicare providers than do seniors in Palm Beach County? And why will that discrepancy soar 48% higher in 2008?

Bob Schulbaum, longtime head of the Alliance of Delray Residential Associations, said of this ever-widening discrepancy, “I’m speechless….Someone from Medicare should come down here and tell us why a person is worth $344 a month more in Dade County. And they better not give us any gobbledygook.”

Medicare actuary and spokesperson Paul Spitalnic said recently that the reasons for the discrepancy “have not been determined at this time”, even though the problem is hardly new.

Another Medicare spokesman, Joe Kuchler, said the actual amounts Medicare pays to private Medicare providers cannot be released to the public. When Florida Health News asked him what law or regulation makes those payments a secret, Kuchler replied that Medicare’s technical staff was researching the issue.

South Florida Congressman Robert Wexler asked “what is the justification for so much over-utilization in Miami-Dade and why should Palm Beach and Broward suffer? Why should the same 70 year-old man in Miami Beach require more services than a 70 year-old senior in Boca Raton? Something is not kosher. Something is wrong.”

It’s totally illogical,” Wexler said. “It’s totally unfair and bordering on the ridiculous.”
Wexler has taken up the matter with Governor Crist, whom he described as “very interested in this issue”.

If you would like to ask Congressman Wexler about this issue in person, he will be the guest speaker of the West Boca Community Council on June 2 at the Boca Lago Country Club just east of Lyons Road, between Glades and Palmetto. The meeting starts at 7:30 pm and is open to the public.

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