Costly, Repeat Medical Testing Common for Medicare Patients: Study

November 19, 2012 By Steven Reinberg  HealthDay Reporter  MONDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) — Many Medicare patients undergo some kind of repeat medical testing, a new study finds. But it’s unclear whether giving the same test twice protects recipients’ health or just piles on costs to an already overburdened system.  “There is a substantial amount of retesting,” said study co-author Kevin Hayes, a policy analyst at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission in Washington, D.C. “There are also limited practice guidelines to help physicians understand when it’s a good idea to repeat a test and when it’s not.”  Read more