November 8th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Abusing The System, General Medicine, Happy Hospitalist, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare reform, Medicaid Thieves, Medicare Fraud, Pre-Existing Conditions, Sharing Health Insurance Cards, The Future of American Healthcare, U.S. Healthcare System
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Are you wondering about a glaring unintended consequence of healthcare reform? Read on to learn how everyone becomes a criminal.
By now you’ve all heard of the government reports of Medicare fraud being three times higher than 17 billion dollars a year previously thought. How you ask? Because an illegible doctor signature is considered fraud and Obama is out to make things right and transparent and accurate. You can pretty much count on every physician in this country being a fraudster.
But what about Medicaid? Does the same fraud problem exist with the Medicaid system? Probably, but you also have to worry about the patient abuse aspect as well. Here’s an angle of unintended consequences you may not have considered with healthcare reform by making pre-existing conditions a thing of the past.
I have been told Happy’s hospital has a handful of repeat offenders using their family member’s Medicaid card to get free healthcare services in the ER. Why is that possible and why would anyone let their family member use their insurance card? The question you should ask is not “why,” but “why not?” Why wouldn’t every family with Medicaid share their card? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
November 8th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Dr. Rob Lamberts, Election 2010, Fixing American Healthcare, General Medicine, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, Hope For Healthcare, Musings of a Distractible Mind, Obamacare, Patients' Opinion, Patients' Perception, Patients' Viewpoint, U.S. Healthcare System
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“So, what do you think about the election?”
“So, what do you think about Obamacare?”
“What do you think about this healthcare situation?”
I get these questions throughout my day. My patients are mostly suburban and white, so their view is overall on the conservative side. Yet I have found that few see the results of the election as a hopeful sign for healthcare. I don’t either.
Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I am a “flaming moderate” when it comes to politics. I don’t have much faith in anyone who identifies too strongly with one party of the other. I am really angry with congress and their lack of gonads to work on really coming up with solutions. Interestingly, my patients, regardless of their political leaning, agree with much of what I say. Here are the things they all seem to agree with:
1. Congressional politics is hurting us. Members of congress (both sides are equally guilty) are more focused on what is good for their party than what is good for those who they represent. If a democrat is elected to this district, I expect him/her to represent all of the people in that district, not just the democrats (the same is obviously true for republicans). This doesn’t mean they must lose all of their ideology, but ideology should be a means, not an end. The reason to hold an ideology is to come to solutions to problems with that ideology as a vehicle. The goal is to help the people you represent through your ideology, not bang them over the head with it. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
November 8th, 2010 by DavidHarlow in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Video
Tags: David Harlow, Doc Fix, Election 2010, HealthBlawg, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, Medicare SGR Cut, Swing To The Right
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Like Tom Friedman, who lampooned some of this year’s unreasonable campaign rhetoric in a recent column, I, too, would be in favor of reality-based political campaigns, but that seemed to be too much to ask for this year. Instead of truth, we now have truthiness.
The joke news shows (and their joke political rallies) seemed to be more popular than the evening news. (I wish Jon Stewart and his 200,000 fans on the Washington Mall last weekend had stayed home, canvassing for their candidates of choice.) Fact-checkers told us that many political ads this season were in the “barely true” or “pants on fire” zones according to the Truth-O-Meter. But in the end, the buzzwords seem to have worked their magic, and many “insiders” are out, and “outsiders” are in.
The angry and the impatient on the campaign trail have, in some cases, adopted the line from the movie Network: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore,” perhaps forgetting that while that line garnered the Howard Beale character strong ratings, network bosses arranged for his on-air assassination when his ratings fell.
The Utopia tune below, “Swing to the Right,” comes to you from the Ronald Reagan era, and perhaps we are seeing the generational swing of the pendulum back to the right. It does seem to happen every 30 years or so. But don’t blame me — I’m from Massachusetts (home to a Democratic sweep on the recent election night).
The last two years have seen a tremendous amount of change in Washington. The question of the moment, of course, is: How will the election results affect implementation of healthcare reform? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog*
November 8th, 2010 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Accountable Care Organizations, ACO, Barriers To Success, Complications of Chronic Diseases, Defensive Medicine, Dr. Stanley Feld, Government-run Healthcare, Health Insurance Industry, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, Healthcare Reform Act, Hospital Systems, Lack of Patient Education, Lack of Patient Responsibility, Medicare, New U.S. Healthcare System, Overtesting, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Repairing The Healthcare System, Waste in the Healthcare System
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Accountable Care Organization(ACOs) are not going to decrease the waste in the healthcare system. Waste occurs because of:
1. Excessive administrative service expenses by the healthcare insurance industry which provides administrative services for private insurance and Medicare and Medicaid. A committee is writing the final regulations covering Medical Loss ratios for President Obama’s healthcare reform act. The preliminary regulations are far from curative
2. A lack of patient responsibility in preventing the onset of chronic disease. The obesity epidemic is an example.
3. A lack of patient education in preventing the onset of complications of chronic diseases. Effective systems of chronic disease self- management must be developed.
4. The use of defensive medicine resulting in overtesting. Defensive medicine can be reduced by effective malpractice reform.
A system of incentives for patients and physicians must be developed to solve these causes of waste. A system of payments must also be developed to marginalize the excessive waste by the healthcare insurance industry. Patients must have control of their own healthcare dollars.
By developing ACOs, President Obama is increasing the complexity of the healthcare system. It will result in commoditizing medical care, provide incentives for rationing medical care, decrease access to care, and opening up avenues for future abuse.
The list of barriers to ACOs’ success is long and difficult to follow. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
November 8th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: ACP Advocate, American College Of Physicians, Bob Doherty, Council of Subspecialty Societies, CSS, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, New U.S. Healthcare System, Patient-Centered Medical Home Neighbors, PBS, PCMH-N, Primary Care
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My image of Pittsburgh has been one of a blue-collar, rough-and-tumble town: Perogies, Heinz ketchup, steelworkers, football, and Roberto Clemente. But an exhibit in Pittsburgh’s airport the other day informed me that Pittsburgh also is the home of the iconic “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” — the gentle PBS show that entertained toddlers for generations. Mr. Rogers always started the show off with the following verse:
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
It’s a neighborly day in this beautywood,
A neighborly day for a beauty,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,
I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.
So let’s make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we’re together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Won’t you please,
Won’t you please,
Please won’t you be my neighbor?
Fittingly, the same week that I was reminded of “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,” the American College of Physicians (ACP) released its “medical home neighborhood” position paper. The paper was developed by a workgroup of ACP’s Council of Subspecialty Societies (CSS), which is comprised of representatives of internal medicine subspecialty societies and related organizations.
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
