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Quarter-Billion Taxpayer Dollars Spent on Penis Pumps
The Heartland Institute ^ | 12/6/2011 | BENJAMIN DOMENECH

Posted on 12/07/2011 7:48:31 AM PST by Just4Him

According to data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicare has spent more than $240 million of taxpayer money on penis pumps for elderly men over the past decade, and will surpass a quarter of a billion dollars this year for costs since 2001.

The cost to taxpayers for the pumps more than quadrupled during that period, from a low of $11 million in 2001 to a high of more than $47 million in 2010. And these represent only the costs for external devices, technically classified as “Male Vacuum Erection Systems,” not implantable devices or oral drugs such as Viagra.

Easy to Qualify

In order to obtain a pump, according to CMS’s Local Coverage Determination (LCD) revised in October this year, the “patient’s medical record must contain sufficient documentation of the patient’s medical condition to substantiate the necessity for the type and quantity of items ordered,” noting erectile dysfunction (ED) can “commonly occur in men in the Medicare age group.”

The National Institutes of Health previously estimated between 15 percent and 25 percent of 65-year-old men experience ED on a long-term basis, which the LCD notes may be caused by “diabetes, other endocrine abnormalities, vascular abnormalities, trauma, neurogenic, psychogenic, side effects of many medications, and other causes.” The Cleveland Clinic also points to “psychological factors, such as stress, depression, and performance anxiety” as possible causes.

If a medical exam and history shows a senior on Medicare meets the relevant threshold—a diagnosis of ED—he becomes eligible for a wide range of options under the Medicare Prosthetic benefit. Treatment Options covered by Medicare include “oral medications, pharmacological injections, intra-urethral suppositories, vacuum erection devices, and implantable penile pumps.”

(Excerpt) Read more at news.heartland.org ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 12/07/2011 7:48:34 AM PST by Just4Him
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To: Just4Him

...and every one of them sent to Harry Reid’s house in Nevada.


2 posted on 12/07/2011 7:49:43 AM PST by Feline_AIDS (A gun in hand is better than a cop on the phone.)
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To: Feline_AIDS

LMAO


3 posted on 12/07/2011 7:50:44 AM PST by Just4Him (The truth shall set you free. John 8:32)
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To: Just4Him

No wonder the incidence of STDs in The Villages of Florida is so high.


4 posted on 12/07/2011 7:53:23 AM PST by txrefugee
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To: Just4Him

No Penis Pumps No Peace No Penis Pumps No Peace No Penis Pumps No Peace !!!


5 posted on 12/07/2011 7:57:54 AM PST by al baby (Is that old windbag still on the air ?)
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To: Just4Him

"That sort of thing ain't my bag, baby!"

6 posted on 12/07/2011 8:00:41 AM PST by JRios1968 (I'm guttery and trashy, with a hint of lemon. - Laz)
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To: Just4Him

7 posted on 12/07/2011 8:00:48 AM PST by TSgt (Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.)
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To: Just4Him
I thought Obama said in Kansas yesterday that the middle class just needs a fair shake. He didn't say anything about pump or suck? He really does support the middle class; literally. TG for government. We literally can't get it up without them now. Sorry for the crudeness. Just can't be avoided with this president for some reason.
8 posted on 12/07/2011 8:03:50 AM PST by throwback ( The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid)
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To: Just4Him

Someone is always getting screwed with this administration...


9 posted on 12/07/2011 8:05:31 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: Feline_AIDS

or Slick Willie’s house, I suppose it is just part of their retirement perks.


10 posted on 12/07/2011 8:09:09 AM PST by annieokie
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To: Just4Him

Amputation would be cheaper.

Lorena Bobbitt, please pick up the phone.

The taxpayers need you.


11 posted on 12/07/2011 8:14:41 AM PST by dforest
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To: Just4Him

It’s good to know that the Democrats refused to give any increase to Veterans Disability over the last two years. I mean it wasn’t like they were buying penis pumps or something stupid like that.


12 posted on 12/07/2011 8:42:11 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Just4Him

Really glad I bought all that penis pump stock!


13 posted on 12/07/2011 8:43:23 AM PST by golf lover (going)
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To: golf lover
Really glad I bought all that penis pump stock

You just better hope it's not one of those "pump and dump" stocks.

14 posted on 12/07/2011 8:54:07 AM PST by techcor (I hope Obama succeeds, in being a one term president.)
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To: Just4Him

I hear that stadiums are using them as revenue enhancements to make regular hot dogs into footlong hot dogs they can sell for twice the price.


15 posted on 12/07/2011 8:55:30 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie (zerogottago)
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To: Just4Him
Waiting for the commercial:

"I've fallen and I can't get (it) up!"

16 posted on 12/07/2011 8:58:40 AM PST by MissMagnolia (Obama 2012: Debt Man Walking.)
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To: Just4Him

I’m sure that the “Fluffers Guild” is outraged....


17 posted on 12/07/2011 9:06:43 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations - The acronym explains the science.)
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To: Just4Him

All your penis pumps are belong to us.


18 posted on 12/07/2011 9:58:05 AM PST by goseminoles
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To: Feline_AIDS
...and every one of them sent to Harry Reid’s house in Nevada.

Isn't that what Dingy Harry uses to keep himself standing upright?

19 posted on 12/07/2011 1:55:56 PM PST by dearolddad
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