If you don’t have a physician taking care of you right now and you are on Medicare? Find one ASAP. I’ve watched primary care physicians bail on Medicare since SCOTUS gave it the okay in June. Until you need care, you probably won’t think much of what is happening. Thank you POTUS for stealing from Medicare to prop up ObamaCrapCare.
To tell you that there will be change in the coming year is to put it mildly. There lies an undercurrent of deceit in government assisted healthcare. For many, they won’t know anything until they or their loved ones actually need to use Medicare. How many physicians do you know of that want to continue to work for pennies on the dollar? How Obamacare’s $716 Billion in Cuts Will Drive Doctors Out of Medicare.
Can anyone honestly believe that those that have taken an oath to heal will be comfortable in helping to indirectly ration healthcare? This physician was working for a hospital. He didn’t have overhead.
“I was a typical physician employed by a hospital,” Dr. Slatosky said. “I had all the say so of a janitor. We had no say in scheduling or work hours, and if you needed a day off you had to beg for it.”
Do the math. Physicians cannot pay their overhead by being compensated at pennies on the dollar. Nichols and dimes add up.
Claims and billing ate up the largest portion, 55 percent, of time physicians’ practices spent interacting with health insurers. For primary-care practices, it accounted for about 53 percent. Clerical staff spent the largest number of hours on claims and billing, spending an average, per week, of 27.1 hours in primary-care practices, 29.8 hours in medical specialists’ practices, and 28.7 hours in surgical specialists’ practices.
For small, one-to-two physician practices, the annual cost of dealing with health insurers was greater for primary-care physicians than medical or surgical specialists. Small primary-care practices spent an average of $72,675 interacting with health insurers. Medical specialists spent $70,788 and surgical specialists spent $61,187. The clerical staff, which accounted for the bulk of the hours spent on claims and billing, cost small primary-care practices an average of $31,666 annually, while they cost medical specialists $27,595 and surgical specialists $27,977.
Keep in mind that claims and billing is only one part of the big picture. Add malpractice premiums, insurance for the office staff, medical and office supplies, rent, advertising, etc. Are you seeing the same picture that I am?
According to the Texas Medical Association, 78 percent of Texas physicians were still accepting all new Medicare patients in 2000.33 By 2011 that had dropped to 67 percent.34
And it will continue to drop. Where is torte reform? What government forgets is that healthcare is also a business. When the business loses money, it goes under. So, are you ready for kitchen surgery?
Never forget who brought us this poser. h/t helenk
h/t foxy
Filed under: Uncategorized
--Graphic by Freedom Fairy
"This is not culture. This is not custom. This is criminal."
Oh my- getting older in this country gets more frightening by the day. Barack and his cronies, Nancy, Harry et al, sold us out to their funders- the Insurance and Pharma companies. Dirty rat bastages! What do they care? They have golden care forever on our dime. And enough money to hire their own docs and pay cash if needs be.
Love the armor plate graphic and the nowhere man vid!
Thanks for keeping us in the loop mcnorman- the govt and the msm want us all in the dark. And if we are old and a “drain” on the system- they want us in the dark six feet under. Tell me again who is going to throw granny over the cliff?
OT. Obama plans to be more republican in his second term. The Obots must love that.
OT: Where’s Freedom Fairy? I wonder what her thoughts are on the recent quakes? CA to the Gulf of CA
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/
http://news.yahoo.com/strong-earthquake-hits-off-el-salvador-coast-073505888.html
.
I “saw” FF over at the neighbors. And on Twitter. I thought she would pop in over here on the EQ’s as well.
DE- what a hoot on your link- obama is projecting?
Refuses to own up to the responsibilities of being president? THIS from a man who spends 90% of his time campaigning/being worshipped and golfing? Seriously?
As for lacks serious ideas- I don’t think Obama has ever had an original idea of his own and having watched him since 07 I can say he and his campaign operatives and advisors are the emperors of dishonesty. Do they think we have forgotten? Or that we are deaf, dumb and blind?
Other 10% of time used on the golf course.
Maybe I’m paranoid, but I’m pretty sure there is rationing for all in that Obamacare bill……Medicare patient or not. I think somewhere buried in that bill is something that says if you smoke or are overweight or partake in whatever habit your insurance company deems unhealthy it’s perfectly fine to provide you with lesser care.
I just had a horrible experience along those lines because I smoke. I found myself begging and pleading for an antibiotic prescription. I know I have a sinus infection and I’m pretty sure I either have bronchitis or pneumonia, very short of breath feel like I’m drowning at night can’t sleep. I don’t know exactly because it might have required actual medical care rather than a lecture. I was told I was suffering the consequences of my smoking habit and basically to go die in a hole. I was also accused of having chronic colds and using antibiotics chronically, both of which are complete lies. Another doctor who played the good cop finally checked my records and discovered I haven’t been in for chronic colds and in the past seven years I’ve had one antibiotic prescription in 2009. Oh what a nice man (sarc) he gave me a prescription, but you know next time I might not be as lucky…….I am totally NOT kidding about this.
This was at a major, big name medical facility……one of the biggest names in this country. The entire visit I heard several times your insurance company wants this, your insurance company wants that, your insurance company thinks this or that. My cholesterol medication was changed because my insurance company wanted it changed, so the doctor point blank told me. I was already on a generic so it wasn’t because of that and what is more apparently my insurance company decided I needed to be on a higher dose even though the lower dose of the other drug had my cholesterol well within where it needed to be. There is so much more than that it was shocking.
I’m telling you sudden, major change. I realize smoking is not a good habit and I realize there are lot of people that probably cheer smokers being treated like shit……but you know at first they came for smokers and I said nothing……soon enough it’ll be your turn.
PS I’m going to go to Mexico or somewhere and start hoarding medications. I will not go through that again.
Exactly Somebody. The smoking thingy is HUGE. If you think that is bad Somebody, what if you need surgery? Do you realize that because you have smoked, you are now at a higher risk category for having vascular complications? Know that there is a death panel somewhere working out the details. No, I am not kidding either.
Right now, there is one company who has certain criteria that has to be met in order to have a breast reduction. No insurer is the same, but when it comes to criteria they don’t necessarily follow Medicare guidelines. In order for anyone who is insured by this one plan to have a breast reduction, they must consent to practically having a mastectomy in the amount of tissue that is removed. Is that fair? Most plans will use BMI and other factors to determine whether this procedure is medically necessary. Then, they will ask you to go to physical therapy (like that is going to take down KKKs), try a diet plan (sure that will shrink everything else but), or chiropractic sessions (hopefully after a year of this bs, you will give up on surgery). Palin was not kidding when she called these entities “death panels.”
It used to be easy to go to Mexico to buy Rx. No longer. They now require a prescription to fill anything.
Its not only smoking. It also has to do with income and how much you paid in taxes.
When the stimulus (American Recovery and Re-investment Act) was passed, I read it. At that time, pages 400 through 426 described “Comparative Effectiveness Research Review Boards” (‘death panels’ for short) was funded. This was to eventually correlate with the ACA.
Simple explanation: Designed by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the Review Boards would determine the quality and cost of prescription drugs and health care of individuals the government would be ‘re-investing’ in by factoring in the following:
1) Amount of income tax paid by an individual,
2) the projected risk the person posed based on lifestyle choices (like smoking, obesity, etc)
3) and age (in other words, the closer you are to the grave, the more fucked you are in getting quality care/prescriptions because you have less years to work and pay taxes)
I was horrified when I read it, and blasted it from every mountain top, but people were too busy to read the entire bill, so few actually saw this coming.
When the ACA was signed into law, buried around 2,000 pages in was language that correlated with the Review Boards mentioned in the stimulus bill.
To date, I have advocated for seniors and disabled people who were placed in harms way because of the passage of the ACA. It took a lot of tenacity, but there was eventual resolution. It is the timid folks that I worry about – the ones who don’t understand they have the right to challenge these decisions; the ones who don’t realize that the portion of the ACA that has become implemented is only the tip of the iceberg.
That is the most compelling reason that I think its imperative to NOT take this coming election lightly. The ACA needs to be reformed, if not repealed and re-written. We do need healthcare, but not based on how much money a person is worth, or depriving them of treatment because the gov doesn’t approve of what the tobacco lobby was able to do to us all these years.
End of rant. Sorry for the interruption, but this really pisses me off.
Seriously you need a prescription in Mexico? Damn, I’ll have to do some research.
I’m telling you it was VERY obvious that I’m a marked woman. I realize I was sick so you might think I was a tad emotional or something. My husband was right there with me and my witness. He didn’t speak up for me either, nope he was just concerned the little witch might be his new doctor……..gosh I’m all warm and fuzzy, NOT
Again this is a BIG, BIG name place. I’m out of there, I’d rather seek treatment in a back alley; I’ve no doubt I would be treated better.
Watch the spectacle Chrissy McTingle makes of himself talking about racism and eventually Obamacare.
See the lip quiver, see the spit fly out of his mouth, see everyone rolling their eyes and eventually telling him to STFU before going to commercial.
Obamacare comes in toward the end. Worth every minute
Damn Anthony that explains a lot, not only do I smoke but I’m a stay at home mom……so they might as well get it over with and send me to the gas chambers now.
Somebody – all you have to do is vote him out. It will be reformed.
You make perfect sense to me Somebody. Know that those behind the window know EXACTLY what these rats are up to. We are caught in the middle.
@ Anthony
Maybe the death panels can up his meds before his next interview?
McTingle’s an embarrassment. I can’t believe how he holds onto that job.
Anthony trust me I fully intend to vote him out, but I fear that all of this may not be repealed.
mcn, good (and scarifying) post. Does this pertain to people who have medicare and a supplemental insurance as well? My Dad had VA med benefits, but also medicare & a Kaiser supplement. Between the three of them, we hardly had to pay for anything.
Anthony if the death panels were funded by the Stimulus then even if the ACA is repealed aren’t the panels still technically in place?
I’m not crazy there was a seismic shift in the way I was treated or not treated would be more to the point.
I’m pretty sure it applies to everybody Socal. According to Anthony it doesn’t much matter what kind of insurance or coverage you have what is more important is your value to society……and how “good” you are as far as habits and such, plus your age.
I have supposed “golden” government insurance, but I’m not worth anything apparently so what type of insurance I have doesn’t matter.
Somebody, we stock up when we’re in Mexico also. We get antibiotics, eye infection drops, ear infection drops, Retin A, that flu drug which is pretty hard to find. Oh and I get B12 in a vial for B12 shots. I know a lot of people who get Human Growth Hormone there, but I’m too scared to screw with that stuff. Anyway, the stuff isn’t as cheap as it used to be, but it comes in handy. You can also buy a lot of stuff from Canada, like Canpharm dot come.
Thats right, your hub works for the gov like mine. Wow. Thats really depressing news.
Yes, technically they would be in place. But without the ACA they would have no opportunity to be implemented, making them impotent. The only way they could exercise would be with a corresponding healthcare bill that has them written into the funding details.
And no, Somebody, you’re not crazy. There was definitely a shift in the way you were treated.
All of this is not funny at all. I had that bone density scan and have an appt tomorrow with the doc. I had received a call from her office saying they want me on Fozamax- which ain’t never going to happen. I want to actually SEE the scan- the actual pics. I had the back surgery two years ago and was told then that my bone density looked good from the x-rays and from what the surgeon saw when doing the hemilaminectomy and microdiscectomy. (not sure on the spellings there)
I have read up on that fozamax and boniva and the rest- I have not got any spare bone to lose in my jaw- and am not taking it. Period. I don’t care if my bones look like swiss cheese- not doing it. Which will of course show up in my medical records and screw me down the road.
Mom is 87 and has excellent bone density- even after yrs of smoking- she did fall and break her hip- and it was determined then that she did not have osteoporosis- she actually did slip on the ice, fall and break the hip and wrist.
Am now taking a multivitamin and an extra calcium/D supplement. And looking for a good alternative to those- someone mentioned bone meal- but that can be iffy- no telling where they get that stuff.
This is pretty awesome
Socal – I’ll bet lakerwade will want to jam with this
Anthony- cool vid!
@ Socal
I know that in 2011 the VA implemented Medicare rules and guidelines for care. Most of the software was finalized and installed this summer. Whatever Medicare does, so will the VA.
We have always been headed toward a single payer system, it’s just that the government is having a difficult time saying so. Gone are the days of indemnity plans etc. Single payer and their rules. Everyday, a new bulletin is issued. They should have been honest with the citizens and just said that we would all get the same thing. Problem is that it is going to cost. How do you tell physicians that overnight their business is no longer theirs?
@ Somebody
Those on the border now must have an Rx for antibiotics in Mexico. This happened last year. I’m sure it had to do with all of the resistance problems that land in the US emergency rooms. Add greed to the mix.
http://www.mexonline.com/medications.htm
Hey, mom – you and me both. My pelvic x-rays showed osteopenia and the snot nosed doctor tried to get me to do the bone density and perscribe fozamax or the other similar drug that are close to being useless unless you manage to out-live all the other things it does to your body.
I’d gotten the x-rays from the hospital myself and told the little twerp that I had chosen to do the exercizes that use the muscles that pull on the shallow density bones and stimulaters them to lay down morer bone, along with natural bone building supplements and a more alkaline diet that favors bone building. Anyone can find these on the google machine.
He laughed and said doing it that way would be hard work and actually demeaned good nutrition as being helpful. Just remember that doctors get a kickback from drug companies for every drug they perscribe.
Docs in the metro DC area have been limiting Medicare access for years but the numbers have grown exponentially during the current administration. Of those docs that see Medicare patients, most stopped taking any new Medicare patients. When the doc retires, many practices tell Medicare patients to find a new practice, they no no longer redistribute the retiring physician’s Medicare case load among remaining docs.
When I moved Mom moved here, I knew it was better to keep her primary care doctor in place. I take vacation days to drive her to her appointments and if she needs any specialty care he does the referral. I also kept her expensive, but comprehensive, supplemental insurance as it covers a lot more the the newer plans and is good anywhere in the country.
My older neighbors have given me the names of two urgent care centers that have basically become the primary care givers for much of our neighborhoods medicare population. Those with docs are hoping said docs do not retire becuase there is no one else. They themselves are using the centers for urgent/emergency care (when a ER is not needed) as the practices no longer provide any help during off hours and appointments must be made months in advance. No wiggle room for unexpected things such as ear or sinus infections.
@ twandx
Problem is that you are the exception. I see many Medicare people daily who don’t take kindly to alteration of diet and they believe that natural supplements are phooey. It’s frustrating. Kickbacks are a thing of the past. Many docs listed on some of these pharma sites as being paid by the pharma companies are also doing research. If they are lecturing, usually they have a specific target population ie, the cancer trials.
I know that it is difficult to believe, but govt is monitoring the docs VERY closely. Everytime an Rx is electronically prescribed, that is now on a database. I ran into a pharma rep who told me that samples for simple things are no longer being doled out if there are not 5000+ scripts written in a month. They have direct electronic links to the databases. The govt also monitors every sample in an office now as well. We no longer stock samples. It’s too much trouble.
@ Mt Laurel
When you find a place, latch on. Healthcare is a business. No one can expect these people to continue to serve when they can’t make overhead and that is what is happening. It’s easier to bail now than to lose all of one’s retirement trying to keep a business afloat.
All of this really ticks. me off.About that smoking thingy.I plan on my last breath to have smoke on it…:lol:
.
Last Summer I sprained my back.And the Medics treated me ;like trash
Hmmmm. New Header up. FF? I saw you earlier at the neighbors!
It’s not just the smoke thingy, it’s everything. Look at hospital readmissions. Who in their right mind is going to take care of someone who is a diabetic in poor health? No one will want to risk not getting paid (but getting sued) for things that are not within their control. More home healthcare (which will spring up everywhere with little monitoring).
Twandx- thanks for the info- I am of course still doing my walking- but looks like I have to up the amount of time spent doing it. I had already planned on getting a set of wrist weights to add. Been working with 3.5 pound dumbells too. (My upper arms are getting that flabby old lady look- shudder- well- geez- I can’t lift 80 boxes of meat or 50 pound bales of hay anymore- it was to be expected I guess)
Had never heard of that alkaline diet thing- I drink soda only rarely. The water in our area is very hard- chock full of minerals and iron- I like berries and so forth (though who can afford them)
I used to drink coffee all day and night when I was working- I cut that down to two cups a day- and I am NOT giving those up.
More fruits and vegetables. Sigh. The most expensive foods out there and winter coming too.
Let me tell you folks something. Death panels are not a made up thing they are here ! My husband has already been offered his death counseling from the VA. He is 74 and his doc told him if he gets cancer or some serious condition they will not do anything because it is futile to try to work on an elderly person. Money is better spent on younger folks who have a better chance of beating an illness. Yea they make the choice for you……. YOU DIE ! National health care is something you all know I have never and will never support because when government gets into it you lose no matter.
Insurance companies need spanked and I mean hard and we need to be able to buy across state lines. There are ways of fixing this but national health care is not it IMO.
Vote out Obama and the idiots that have been in DC and you might stand a chance. Go with incumbents and you lose.
PMM for what it is worth a few months back we had a consultation with a very well respected orthopedic about a bone side effect little somebody has from her cancer treatment. He insisted that refined carbohydrates can interfere with bone growth. I didn’t get the impression it was the end of the world kind of thing; but more something we should monitor carefully to give little somebody’s bones the best chance to overcome the problems she has.
He made many other suggestions, but the refined carb and/or processed food thing was new. I’ve never heard any mention of that with regard to bone growth, but he told me to google it there are studies out there.
Just for the helluva it, I’ll throw out what I wrote awhile back:
http://thewiddershins2.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/obama-stole-750-or-500-billion-dollars-from-medicare/
Utah you are correct they’re out there, maybe everyone has yet to run across theirs but they’re out there.
Not only is my smoking an issue, but I refused a hysterechtomy several years ago so guess what? I was told I would get a pap smear every 3 years because they HAD to give me one…….otherwise I was not to mention my female parts ever again……then the doctor asked me if she had made herself perfectly clear.
Crystal clear sweetheart, shame you were born almost a century too late because Dr. Mengele would’ve loved to have you on his staff.
Jeez Somebody, I thought I was nuts for being able to avoid physicians for 16 years. I don’t think so anymore. Of course, staying off the radar will only insure that there must be something very wrong with me whenever I have the misfortune of having to make that visit.
Fredster, I am witness to how this is playing out. The public doesn’t have a clue as to how this is coming to pass. Pre determinations will be the standard of care for everyone until we move to one payer. No longer will anything under private insurers be a given. Make no mistake, monies must be diverted in order to pay for Barack’s plan. Medicare is easy for picking. http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/one-really-ticked-off-doctor/
The AMA pimped ObamaCare in order to not receive anymore reductions in payments. I’ll take the voucher system. Atleast then I can make the informed decision myself, I won’t have Rahm’s (sitting in an Ivory Tower never having worked in the private sector or dealt with another human) calling the shots for me. Just kidding.
Seriously, everyday there is one more egregious bit coming through about how people will be taken care of. Medicare is relatively benign compared to what is coming. I do consider this stealing from Medicare Fredster. Savings means loss of medical care of sorts to someone (who paid into the system for a very long time) only to be diverted to fund something else is criminal imo.
@ Utah
No surprise on the counseling.
mcnorman – you have more trust than I have. I used to be on the other side of the provider/patient barrier. Believe me kick back still goes on and think -
‘WHO IS WATCHING THE WATCHERS?” You feel safe that you are told monitors are checking on docs — dream on.
No twandx, we actually have a lot of checking going on. Everything is now countered with license or tax ID. If you think that the IRS is going to let you have anything that they think is theirs, well you know that answer already.
I have news for you about what the average doc is doing…boatloads of paperwork, now electronic to ensure that all eyes are on you and I. Staff as well. Nah twandx I don’t trust numbers. I look around and see what is happening to my friends all over. It is scary. The penalties and consequences are far higher for docs when there are problems. Also for staff (there is now prison time and money penalties for them now). Things have changed vastly twandx. I am always dumbfounded at the changes that take place within quarters, let alone years. Very different from the 80s or 90s. Docs that left and retired in the mid 90s walked out with perfect timing.
Remember the days of calling your doc and asking to pick up an Rx? Electronic records. Some docs no longer use pads.
How would it be better without Medicare? If Medicare won’t pay the sawbones every penny he/she thinks he deserves, do what they’ve been doing for decades– bill the patient for the remainder. I see four different docs– only one is having “electronic” problems, and that is one who had office problems before ACA so…
churl we cannot lose Medicare. They are established and so are their rules and guidelines. When a provider signs on with Medicare, they already know that they are going to be paid a contract “allowable” fee. It doesn’t matter what they charge, Medicare will only pay what they deem is fair payment.
There is no what she or he deserve. There is a business / practice to run. It includes overhead like staff, rent, computers, software (with yearly licenses), their own malpractice premiums (which some levels of physicians work for 3 months to pay that baby off), and their own licenses, as well as doing all of the stay current things. And now Obama has decided that all employers must offer insurance to everyone or be penalized. When a doc signs any contract, all insurers (including Medicare) will not allow balance billing. If is a fee for service that once accepted, it is very difficult to get out of.
Mostly what happens is that docs will only take 2 new of this plan per month, and perhaps 3 of the one that pays better, and so on. So you are screwed if your plan pays the least or is more troublesome. BTW, the offices that I know of that carry the highest overhead are the ones heavily involved with Medicaid. Everything is a mother may I request which requires a lot of staff. That will only get worse with ACA. It’s a nice sell to the public, but the horror is on the other side.
FYI, any physician who doesn’t go electronic and is accepting Medicare is automatically financially penalized for not doing the electronic medical records. It might not be a lot to those who have light Medicare rolls, but it is significant to those who only treat the elderly.
As far as all this goes, it does not matter. Obama cut money out of Medicare and Ryan wants to turn Medicare into Obamacare and Obamacare is really Ryancare. Selling insurance across state lines is a joke. They did it here in GA and no one signed on and do you want to know why? It’s because of the way the doctors sign their contracts with the insurance companies. They negotiate rates with the doctors and uniless you’re willing to drive to PA when you live in GA to go to see the doctor, it’s really kind of worthless and the only policies that are going to work across state lines are either the most expensive indemnity policies which are going to be more expensive or catastrophic junk insurance.
If you move to NM from AZ and you purchased your insurance in AZ, you absolutely can see a contracted physician in your insured plan in another state. The coverage will be paid according to where you paid for your insurance. Whomever is in that plan as a provider will be covered as their contract states.
Why would you have to drive back to the state that you purchased insurance in? Take Walmart for example. The plan is based in AK, but there are Walmarts everywhere. BCBS providers will cover that person in any state. They will even cover them in another country. Walmart plan is neither catastrophic junk nor an indemnity plan (the most expensive).
I have seen plans that are completely worthless because the premiums are so low that they cover nothing. Or the part timer ones that kids think are going to cover them. A $2000 per year coverage with $20 copays. Completely unrealistic when you are dealing with a non-cancer (I’m talking about a slow growing tiny benign tumor).
The problem is that no one wants to pay what healthcare truly costs. We all want state of the art. It sure isn’t through ObamaCare. JMO, but that is what I deem as worthless fall into the crevice and die asap. Shoot, I can’t even get these companies to pay me what it costs me in supplies to take care of someone.
Another conservative genius on rape and women’s rights:
“Enter Tom Smith, the Republican candidate who is challenging Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania.
After speaking today at the Pennsylvania press club luncheon, a group of reporters asked Smith about his abortion stance in light of the Akin controversy.
After Smith re-iterated his “”pro-life, period” (no exceptions for rape and incest) stance on abortion, he described a daughter’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy:
Mark Scolforo, Associated Press: How would you tell a daughter or a granddaughter who, God forbid, would be the victim of a rape, to keep the child against her own will? Do you have a way to explain that?
Smith: I lived something similar to that with my own family. She chose life, and I commend her for that. She knew my views. But, fortunately for me, I didn’t have to.. she chose the way I thought. No don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t rape.
Scolforo: Similar how?
Smith: Uh, having a baby out of wedlock.
Scolforo: That’s similar to rape?
Smith: No, no, no, but… put yourself in a father’s situation, yes. It is similar.”
http://ed.msnbc.com/
Could this guy be more of a neanderthal? Comparing rape to “having a baby out of wedlock”??? What century do these idiots think they’re living in?
More fun and buffoonery from our fav repubs. Herman Cain on a CBS Sunday talk show:
“If everyone had competed fairly and honestly, I’d probably be the nominee being nominated this week,” the former GOP presidential candidate said on CBS Sunday. “The process is fair but many people that are involved in the process are not fair and they are not honest.”
Socal, the truth beknown…he wouldn’t have shit to say about anything that happened in his family. He would have his BFF find someone to take care of that indiscretion. They can talk out their asses till they are blue in the face, when it comes right down to the heart of it all…they are full of dookies.
As for Herman, we all know he is another legend in his own mind socal.
Hi everybody, good to see you carrying on as I knew you would!
Nice provocative post McNorman. I myself know five people who got letters from their doctors (all specialists) that have dropped medicare. They dropped Medicare because Obama reduced their payments for services to the point of unacceptable. So it is absolutely true that that 500 billion also came out of cuts to medicare. Four are seniors, one is disabled. Her specialist expects her to bring money up front for office visits and procedures. And as you all know, I had two hikes that knocked me out of the health insurance market. As I mentioned in NY, single pay means four figures a month. the number before the zeros depends on how many in the family. Open market, closed by region, limited to a few carriers who have things locked up, it’s roughly a thousand a month for one person, not including copays and deductables. I would venture to say that for every person added to the ‘rolls’ another person had to drop out of the market in NY.
There will never be real reform in health care costs until Insurance companies have the anti trust waiver removed and are forced to compete instead of price fixing among themselves. A number of years ago congress caught cereal makers price fixing and had a major shit fit. Insurers do it and they don’t even notice. Also, until insurance companies are no longer allowed to be tied to stockholders, health insurance costs will never go down and health care will never consider life before death, if they can get away with the opposite. They aren’t selling washing machines, they are selling life and death. To link life and death to a bottom line and profit and loss is simply the most unconscionable immoral thing any civilized country could possibly do, barring none. Any fool can see that. There is simply no logical way to explain it away. Insurers need a hot poker up their asses and should be forced to be not for profit, but that will never happen because they own the Republican and Democratic parties and to deny it is to be delusional. Ditto for Big Oil and Pharma. And Big Agra. Frakenfood. So safe they don’t want you to know you’re eating it.
As for crossing state lines, it’s just a matter of a law that determines basic policies and the opening of competition that is currently blocked by state legislators due to a profitable lobbying effort. I’m sure it’s no surprise to anybody that companies like BX BS, Kaiser, United Healthcare, etc, operate in more than one state already, so it’s not rocket science, it’s simply Will And will won’t happen without law, because it is no secret that, when left on their honor, health insurers have no honor. Then, of course, thare IS that lobby with fists full of money that make that idea not attractive beyong Lip Service, and if our Uniparty knows how to do one thing, it’s lip service.
Socal, that opinion on rape is SOP with the far right crackpots, blessed by the Pope. Why the Recently Sainted Paul Ryan himself says that rape is a form of conception, and how you conceive is not a consideration. A life is a life. Not YOUR life mind you, but the life of that egg that met that sperm that night the savage threw you down and raped you with a vengence. I have a video somewhere.
What you said, Uppity. Interestingly, one of the upsides obamacare touts is the plan that insurance companies will “cooperate” in order to offer more efficient care. In other words, the floodgates will be open to mergers and acquisitions of the greediest variety (it is already happening), as everyone wants to be first in line. Not only will these mega corps be grabbing our wallets, but they will be heavily subsidized as obamacare increases the medicaid roles (not medicare) and private plans will administer these programs (remember the eradication of the “public option”? So, health industry will be the next and current bubble- speculation on the ill and infirm, or prefereably the young and healthy. What a load of crap.
Forced is the more accurate word. This is horrific. As for the anti trust laws, those should be applicable to the insurance industry. Funny healthcare is never labeled industry, just insurance. Malpractice is another killer of practicing quality medicine. One must cover one’s arse.
I have never been opposed to single payer like Medicare. I think that 20% of one’s income should cover whatever may await one in a lifetime. I do take issue with stealing from Medicare to pay for ObamaCare which insures everyone? It’s wrong to assure the boomers who did sacrifice and save an early death sentence. I can give you a million scenarios on how this can play out. It is stealing and it is wrong.
How do we pay for research? We are innovative because it is a huge business. I don’t have any answers, but I do know from what I am witnessing that this mess called AHA is a trainwreck.
How many of our congress critters have stock in healthcare insurers? Pfizer is one of the top ten stocks owned by Congress.
http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=bee0873a-5fa3-432c-9c05-f0f784af32d5
mcnorman – I think the government was tracking meds through the pharmacies – at least for controlled substances that are often abused. I think the part about electronic records for prescriptions is primarily because MDs have godawful handwriting, and a lot of medical errors happen because the pharmacist misread the MD’s handwritten prescription.
Whenever I see an MD’s handwriting, I always wish they would type, because seriously, it’s like chicken scratch – you’ve probably seen that, too.
They have always tracked through the pharmacies, but now it’s easier lorac. Pharmacists and techs always call now. They won’t fill anything handwritten if there is a question. The other reason for using the EMR is that the dosages are pre listed. No more extra here or there. No refilling prior to the time needed. It’s a great way to keep hoarders from doing that. Unfortunately, I worked my way through college working in a pharmacy. OMG, chicken scratch is far more legible. Narcotics must be on their forms in writing, no EMR accepted for those.
I remember when the pharmaceutical grade cocaine was delivered. Yup, I’m that old.
One guy stood out when it came to fraud. His dentist wrote for 500 Percodan and 250 Qualudes. He would always send the secretary to pick up. They tried every store in town. The DEA finally put that dentist out to pasture. What a difference three decades makes.
But I agree with you, Somebody, re: the reticence to prescribe antibiotics. Yes, there are very real superinfections, but if prescribed correctly and taken appropriately, as you would have done, antibiotics are a life saver. My feeling is that the reticence comes from laziness- giving a blanket answer to those who may really benefit from antibiotics. Sometimes there is nothing that can be done save for such an Rx for a sinus infection, which could lead to a brain abscess or death if left untreated.
@ lililam
There is also a huge problem with resistance now. How many times have those scripts been written over a period of decades just to keep that patient from being upset? I can’t imagine suffering through a sinus infection without antibiotics. That is just heartless.
The largest medicare fraud case in history was perpetrated by the family of Dr. and Senator Bill Frist, of I Don’t Know What’s In My Blind Trust But Ooops! You Found Out fame. The “Honorable” Dr. Frist, as you might recall, was in charge of the last medicare “reform” in tandem with Newt Gingrich’s good friend who was in charge of AARP at the time, The Frist family of Private Hospitals (HCA) paid out $1.7 billion in fines forr medicare fraud. And of course, the 25 or so million or HCA stock in his Blind Trust had nothing to do with him scurrying out of congress like a frightened rat.
Also, it really galls me when a doctor assumes that a decision needs to be made based on insurance- for example, a hospitalist once told me that most insurance companies wouldn’t provide a certain service that I needed, so therefore she wouldn’t order it. The thing is, mine did cover it and I needed it.
Yes, we are all paying for that HCA debacle still today. Rat is a very nice word for that thing.
@ lililam
Stay wise to what is covered. When it is, keep pounding the door. Hospitalists really are treated as zeroes and worse, they are nothing short of one night stands. That’s why they can say no.
And I don’t mean to sound all negative regarding doctors- I really don’t feel they are a significant problem. They are largely victims as well. (although there are always exceptions)
I agree, McNorman
Yes lililam, there are ALWAYS exceptions. lol
Thank you Upps. I really do believe that the warnings cannot come soon enough about what we are going to encounter.
Yeah, re: hospitalists- I pull some on call shifts now to make ends meet and I used to have my own private practice(I am a medical “professional”, but not a doctor)- the difference is night and day. I do feel like a one night stand and miss the investment in my patients and the intimacy. It is sad.
mcnorman – that’s right, your comment reminded me that controlled substances have to be written on triplicate – not electronic, and can’t fax them!
Very sad lililam. And this is where we are headed at blinding speed.
Yes lorac…NO faxing. Irate patients constantly bitching about something that I have no control over. If they only knew about the other stuff. YIKES
nice post mcnorman! Sorry I went awol- we had a power outage starting around 3:30 or 4- got power back after 9:30. The life blew up in my face!
To top it all off- I had gone for a couple of appts for the depression and quit going due to the huge bill I got for the service Bull crap bull shit dais they covered, but not really, until I pay the huge yearly deductible and then the co pay and co-insurance. Any way, one of the other women who sings with us asked how I was doing and if I was still seeing the counselor and I tild her no and about the over 500 dollar bill. She called today and said she checked (she works in the office) and said the billing on their end should have been 75 per visit- so I was hugely overbilled. They are in league with the local hospital- so the bill came from there- which of course I paid. Now I have to back track and see what the hell happened.
The woman, by the way, is a very nice young lady. She used to work for the local dialysis provider- then got approached to help set up a new program in conjunction with the hospital. SOme grant they got- to monitor patients when they leave the hospital to cut down on- yup- you guessed it- readmissions. Home care, nursing, monitoring vitals that kind of stuff. Making sure patients keep their follow up appts.
We have some great convention activities coming up! Stay tuned all!
somewhat OT, but may be raising future costs, as Medicaid will no longer cover and parents are foregoing them…
Hang in there PMM. I understand. BTW, be sure that you address a certified copy of what you have paid. Document everything otherwise they will sit on their asses hoping that you fall into the ocean. Average wait time for a refund from a local hospital is 6-9 months locally.
Alas all those little boys will grow up looking like they possess a chicken neck.
……..will duck and run now.
lorac, they are running away as fast as they can. It is so sad, but they also deserve a life. It’s almost become a punishment to serve. You’re supposed to do this as a labor of love, but you can’t pay the bills while taking on more government sponsored bs.
Which is good because we have four of them on this forum.
mcnorman- I am so glad I went to the hospital and paid the bill in person. So I have the bills stamped paid in full and my check. BC/Bs paid some, so I have to get a hold of them too? Cuz they will be wanting their refund as well. She said it could have been a coding error? That is one hell of an error!
If I get time tomorrow I am going to stop in to the billing dept at the hospital and ask for an explanation.
OH! Waving at Uppity! XOXOXOXOXO So Happy to See you!
OT – Hate to interrupt an excellent, informative discussion, but…
Well, I’ll be damned. Too bad they didn’t notice – or care – when massive VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT was going on with the Democratic Party leaders (“National Level”)
The Pre-Selection System is the new Election System, folks. Looks like we “Bitter Clingers” to a fair election and nomination process, via upholding Delegate representation of actual voters, are going to have to company from across the aisle:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/texas-delegates-planning-floor-mutiny-over-rnc-rules-225837647.html
The more I know, the more cynical I become (quelle surprise!) There are thousands(millions?) of pages of regulations re: what specific medical intervention should or should not be covered. What a waste of resources. Few people would want intervention, period, if given a choice. Ethical physicians just want to give the patient what they need. As above, there are always exceptions, but if health care is removed from the commodities market, we will be more likely to get what we need and the emphasis will be more balanced. Health care will become more boring, with the occasional cutting edge treatment available to whoever needs it and those who don’t need it will be grateful that they don’t. (pie in the sky, I guess).
Why Not- deja vu
hahahhaa Upps
Oh yeah why not…they are pissed in an ugly way.
Yes lililam, it has become a nightmare to see what the future holds for us.
Night to all…I have another long and arduous day tomorrow. Why is it not Friday yet?
Thanks for the great topic, goodnight McNorman
To cricuscise or not?
Personally, imho, I think for most males, delaying the procedure until puberty would yield the greatest results in curbing transmission of STD’s.
Backatcha Mom. As always your management and organizational skills are obviously impeccible. Nite.
LOL Uppity- it’s not all me- we have good family here- all jumping in to help out. Couldn’t do it without them!
???? No late night goings on? I killed thread?
I’m confused. mcnorman writes at the beginning what sounds like support for obama’s ins. plan. Even using caps to say run out and get a primary now!
Then in comments he appears to stop supporting obama and begins to criticize it.
May I suggest alsothat making blanket statements about drs and hospitals is worse than misinformation given by obama med. Things, drs and conditions generally differ from state to state; from hospital to hospital; from dr to dr but it is a fact that this universal coverage is run by the drug companies and that should be our target.
We are all being had.
twandx- sorry you are confused. Mcnorman has never supported obamacare- but she has reason to know what is going on behind the scenes with the insurance companies- and Medicare.
What she is saying is that people need to find a primary care doc now- before it becomes impossible to do so. There are things in that crapcare insurance company profit protection act that are wreaking havoc on the doctor patient relationship. And that are impacting the care patients receive.
Much of what is in that bill was very sneaky language giving the Sec of HHS blanket powers to write regulations. So we have someone in charge of writing what are effectively LAWS regarding what doctors and hospitals can and can not and must and must not do. And these “regulations” have the force of law- without ever our representatives voting on them. And the Sec of HHS may or may not be a doctor. May or may not have any medical knowledge. But for sure will be beholden to whomever appointed them- and their donors/buyers.
You would have to go where the contracts are made. The insurance companies do not set up contracts nationally because they like to “group” things together. They will never set them up nationally because of cost of living and in some areas doctors get paid more than in other areas. For example, a CA doctor would never be willing to take GA rates I’m sure. Therefore the only type of insurance that would work would be indemnity insurance. Prescription drugs are different because that’s a product not a service. And yes, there are cheap plans that cover nothing either and I would consider them junk insurance too.
The government goes everywhere, including in our pants and our refrigerators. They can go into insurance contracts. Frozen in time is not my idea of how to reform a thing. If we thought like that throughout time we would all still be living in caves and using tin cans to communicate. There is no such thing as “can’t” The thing is, it would be nice if our congress actually read the bills they write before fixing one thing and breaking another. Change is good. Stupid change is not. Credit card ‘reform’ is a classic example of stupid change. You could drive a truck through the loopholes and the banks did. Then we had to listen to morons say they never thought of that.
See Fools On The Hill below.
Remembering polio, many people, rich and poor, contracted it by swimming in infected waters. See “Sewage” We had a lake that was closed down to swimming because of it.
@twandx
I vehemently oppose ACA. It all sounds so lovely on paper, but the bottom line is that we have all been had. Obama said that everyone would receive what he will get. BIG lie. The federal indemnity plan is gold standard. You and I will never have that. Only those that retire from the government will and we pay for it.
All I said was to hurry and land on someone’s doorstep before Obamacare makes it more difficult to have a good primary where your history is with them. As Obamacare comes in, you will have that choice. And those participating will be behind the door having Obamacare forcing decisions about your health that would not be if ACA did not exist. It’s not misinformation twandx. They are writing this as they go along. Everyday is a new directive to learn about. There was little planning as to how any of that would impact the patient or their provider when this cesspool was created. I don’t have the answers to any of this.
I do know that the Medicare population will lose as a result of ACA raiding the coffers. I do see that “savings” means less for those that did work to insure that the system was in place to help them. Medicare loses big to ACA. I can tell you that we will see Universal Healthcare is a single payer system. When? I don’t know. The process that we will be forced into participating will create that system. Docs will be paid by the government. Innovation in medical technology will not be as fast because the financial incentive will no longer be there. Physicians are leaving Medicare and they aren’t jumping onto the ACA ship either. They prefer to retire or find something else to do. Expect a lot of foreign healthcare professionals to take up the slack. Many more home health companies will arise out of this. They have to because hospitals will not be able to re admit you and docs won’t want to take you on as long as they have huge penalties awaiting them.
Universal healthcare is the path that we are on. It is a very arduous and painful path that we traverse now. I assure that ACA will not be tolerated as it is implemented and there will be changes. You will witness a daily evolution in the transitioning to universal healthcare. It doesn’t matter what the plan is called.
The difference in Obamacare and Medicare is that Medicare has guidelines and standards, but ACA doesn not. It is a mish mash of garbage pickings that is being created by the same insurers that fix everything else. As for being detailed in what I wrote, I cannot. I still work in the system. I cannot expand further. All I did was send the message of urgency to find someone who will take care of you now.
Thanks PMM.
MOM – here is HER [who knew] first line: “If you don’t have a physician taking care of you right now and you are on Medicare? Find one ASAP”
Primary care is a sham for the most part. It is an additional payment you make, the P usually does a lot of useless tests which are repeated if a specialist is called in; their waitingrooms and examination rooms are full of the bugs from other patients\; there some great P’s out there but most are frankly out for the money and they are not necessary and a drain on medicare funds.
Anyone advocating having a primary is, perhaps unknowingly, shilling for big pharma. Always remember that Obamacare, doesn’t care.
It may be different elsewhere but here in Vermont you can go to hospital, rehab or other facility and get admitted if you have insurance – they ask for P but it is pro forma only. It’a all about the money.
There’s a great book by Dr. Bland called, “Live Long, Die Fast” written before all this 1984 herding of people into dosing chutes like cattle. I’m with him, “I want to wear out not rot out.”
All those so called drugs help with the rot along with our diets and the abuse we give our bodies taking away natural protection to look beautiful.
mcnorman- xoxoxoxo
Yup. Insurance companies passing their instructions on to Sebelius- who writes what she is told to write- which then becomes The Regulation. Which thanks to ACA, has the force of law. All that “The Secretary shall formulate…..” The Sec shall regulate…..
Yup. We be screwed.
A good example of so called drugs helping us be beautiful was HRT. All those women who allowed themselves be guinea pigs for pharma who went on those hormones to delay the effects of menopause, and the breast cancer that ensued. I remember thinking, No way I would take that shit. They said it prevented heart attacks. Funny, though, all the women I know who died young before HRT didn’t die of a heart attack. Many died of breast cancer though. It didn’t compute.
I wonder how much gunk Himmicane Isaac will dredge up from the waters that Barack and BP said was all gone. Barack will be speaking at 10AM, with his fingers crossed behind his back that the sham isn’t exposed. I’m sure he spent all that settlement money on bullshit.
Yes UW, they are making a killing off the guinea pigs.
twandx- Personally, I like having a doc I have known for going on 15 yrs. I dislike having to go to urgent care centers or hospital ER to be seen by some young snotty kid who does not know me from a hole in the wall.
We had a family doc when we were kids growing up. He even made house calls. Did minor surgeries- like tonsils. He KNEW us.
Yes, Mcnorman is saying those on Medicare need to get a primary care doc- now- while they still can. Cuz soon docs will not be accepting new medicare patients. And the ACA is going to make it almost impossible to find a doc- just ask people in MA who wait upwards of 18 months for an appointment if they can find a doc accepting the MA version of ocrapcare.
And here in PA- BC/BS requires us to pick a primary- (insurance through husbands employer) and that is not new- they started requiring that back at least 12 yrs ago. I was lucky- my doc was on the list of approved providers.
All those tests protect someone from lawsuits twandx. In ACA, there is no specialist without a PCP. No choice in that matter, you must have one that is accountable for you…very similar to the old HMOs. Nothing will pass without their signoff.
macnorman – wish I had the time and eyes to discuss your points. I think I have made my position clear but if not, will have to do it by bits.
One thing you mentioned – Physicians are leaving Medicare and they aren’t jumping onto the ACA ship either”. One former P dr in Burlington has left in disgust. He and his patients have formed a group with everyone putting in money. The dr goes to their homes [can you say HOUSECALLS?] . This may turn out to be for the very rich in time but now it is working well and I’ve heard of similar ways docs and patiets are opting out of a horrible system. Their insurance still gets them into hospitals etc if needed.
My apologies if I have offended you. I hoped only to make my point that there are exceptions and people need to fight, not accept this traversy.
Oh twandx no need to apologize. I cannot disclose everything that I know in a public forum like a blog. I will lose my job and place others in great peril. There is much that happens everyday. In many ways, I feel a bit better when I send out a hint or two about what is coming down the pike. I feel that maybe someone will listen and make a better choice.
One local pcp did exactly what you just wrote. They take Medicare on their terms. One will take Medicare with a $2000 annual fee per year for each patient. No housecalls, all that it assures you is that you will get to see this doc using Medicare. The only reason that people signed on is because of their history with this physician. I don’t know that $2000 per year is worth that. I would prefer that these people are properly paid and I have a long standing relationship with someone whom I can be completely honest with.
OMG, you should hear the tales spun because someone doesn’t have a pcp when they must go to see a specialist. It’s our responsibility to know our history, but what do you do when your patient is facing the beginning of dementia? Best hope is a pcp that has taken care of this person.
Most physicians do not want to leave their patients behind, but they are financially forced into saying “goodbye.”
[I tried posting this yesterday but apparently crashed all the servers on the eastern seaboard.]
Medicare for all is my position! Maybe what’s confusing me in the comment thread is the implication that that the guv will pay X rate for Medicare but then the docs can’t bill the patient for more. I’m on Medicare and private insurance, both of whom pay the docs, and then I get billed for the rest. I have no real objection to this in that if I feel the docs are overcharging me I can complain. Other than the “mystery” docs that I never know, I’ve never felt like I was really, really getting screwed.
churl I think Medicare for everyone would be fair and equitable. Medicare will only pay their allowable portion of 80% and the other 20% goes to MA or the patient. The problem is that many services are now being slowly modified to become less.
The reason for posting this was because I feel that taking money from Medicare “savings” (denial of services) and giving to ObamaCare is very wrong. Medicare pays for the basics. It helps with a lot, but it certainly cannot sustain hits like 500-700 billion in theft. No one should be allowed to curtail services (aka “savings”) to those who paid into the system. It is what they rely on now.