The Government Lets Itself Get Shafted On Penis Pumps
There's no money that spends quite as easily as other people's.
Paula Span writes in The New York Times that the government has overpaid for penis pumps.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services dispatched its Office of Inspector General to review Medicare payments for vacuum erection systems, less formally known as penis pumps. Its recent report revealed that Medicare was paying "grossly excessive" prices for these devices (which draw blood into the penis, creating an erection that allows a man to have intercourse).From 2006 through 2011, the investigators found, Medicare paid on average $451 per pump. Medicare beneficiaries were responsible for a $90 co-pay; Medicare put up the remaining $361. That was more than twice what the Department of Veterans Affairs paid per pump: $186. Searching online, the investigators found that consumers could buy similar pumps for even less.
And Medicare paid for a whole lot of these items -- more than 473,000 pumps over six years. Had it paid what others paid, the Inspector General's report concluded, taxpayers could have saved more than $14 million and beneficiaries almost $4 million each year.
Even the highly rated ones can be had for far less at Amazon
Up, up, and awaaaaaaay!
The difference between a those $451 Government Spec Medicare pumps and this beast is night and day.
I've had 3 or 4 of the Government Milspec pumps in the past, and their reputation is grossly inflated, their actual performance quite lame.
Well, first, the bad news: I thought it would be glass. For this kind of cheddar, I expected to have the best of the best, and I thought that would be glass. It's plastic, but I'll tell you why that's better. When you have your pressure set (3-4 hg is a good starting point for the 1st 1/2 hour) you can detach the hose from the cylinder. That means you can freely walk around, do dishes, push ups, fold laundry, enjoy a cigar, I usually pump while cooking a romantic dinner.
If it were glass, which is HEAVY, it would droop and lose the seal, thus losing suction and falling to the ground. I hear glass falling on to the ground can be bad. At any rate, the thing cleans easily, holds pressure very well, and works like a beast. I love this thing.
My wife has grown to love this thing. 1 hour at 4-5 hg and you'll be the size of the cylinder you buy. 2" x 9" is GIGANTIC, in case you didn't know.
Sometimes I'll vacuum in the morning while eating breakfast just before I get on the subway.
Don't get too big though since if you can't "pack" the cylinder, instead of growing in length, you'll just get a "donut" that makes intercourse difficult. Oh, another complaint: The 2 cock rings that came with it (the ones you put on your member, after pumping, to keep your "hardness") were pieces of junk. Both of mine broke within the 1st week after only three of my new Superman throbbing pulses. They just exploded off! See if you can tell them to keep 'em and save you a few bucks, because they're useless.
jerry at February 11, 2014 10:06 PM
And I was imagining high heeled shoes shaped like a penis.
Katrina at February 12, 2014 6:42 AM
You mean one's like this?
Jim P. at February 12, 2014 7:25 AM
Just throwing this out there but maybe, just maybe we shouldn't be using medicare for people to have – non-essential – sex. Just a thought considering medicare is for essentials.
NakkiNyan at February 12, 2014 9:35 AM
Jim -- exactly! Surprised my work let that through....though I might get a visit from HR soon just for typing the word penis.
Katrina at February 12, 2014 9:37 AM
Just throwing this out there but maybe, just maybe we shouldn't be using medicare for people to have – non-essential – sex. Just a thought considering medicare is for essentials.
Very seriously, I think that's wrong.
Should medicare pay for anti-depressants?
WTF would be better for depression then enjoying human touch, warmth, and enjoying sex?
And what would probably make depression and quality of life worse? Taking away both a sex life and being told "your sex life is non-essential" when biologically speaking and culturally speaking we know and feel otherwise about that.
To me what is surprising about this penis pump exorbitance, is I never realized the medical community thought they worked well enough to be any sort of treatment.
jerry at February 12, 2014 10:25 AM
Sex is essential:
http://people.howstuffworks.com/love7.htm
Michelle at February 12, 2014 3:34 PM
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