This Health Insurer Denies MORE Claims Than Any Other Insurer by FAR! Must be bad, Right??

There is a health insurance entity that denies claims at nearly twice the average rate of all other insurers...It is called Medicare.

"According to the American Medical Association’s National Health Insurer Report Card for 2008, the government’s health plan, Medicare, denied medical claims at nearly double the average for private insurers: Medicare denied 6.85% of claims. The highest private insurance denier was Aetna @ 6.8%, followed by Anthem Blue Cross @ 3.44, with an average denial rate of medical claims by private insurers of 3.88%"

There has been some improvement by Medicare, but it still trails behind the private providers denial rate...

"In its 2009 National Health Insurer Report Card, the AMA reports that Medicare denied only 4% of claims—a big improvement, but outpaced better still by the private insurers. The prior year’s high private denier, Aetna, reduced denials to 1.81%—an astounding 75% improvement—with similar declines by all other private insurers, to average only 2.79%.:

My question is simple, why can't politicians fix what they are already responsible for before tackling a whole industry? If they could reform just ONE major social program (Medicare?) and get some credibility then perhaps they could get the trust of the American people to press for more reforms. Too much to ask for?