November 8th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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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
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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 BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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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*
November 7th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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Via the Texas Tribune:
Some Republican lawmakers — still reveling in Tuesday’s statewide election sweep — are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state’s estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program.
Hmmm. Welcome to entitlement reality, Texas-style. Currently 20 billion a year and going to go up with expanded eligibility, the article does say the Feds pay 60 percent, but doesn’t say: 1) It’s temporary, then the Federal contribution goes down or away, and 2) The Federal component doesn’t come from magical money fairies — it’s money taken from taxpayers then funneled back into a particular program.
Medicaid is not loved or respected in medicine. Decreasing reimbursements coupled to increasing requirements mean it’s at a minimum inefficient for both patients and providers.
I’m not against kicking Medicaid to the curb, PROVIDED the state has some kind of replacement program — which I’m not sanguine about.
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
November 7th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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I don’t consider myself a right-wing healthcare fear monger, but if I were this study would be worthy of amplification. As reported concisely in the New York Times, from the journal Demography (not previously known to me), population researchers reported that even though elderly Americans have more medical problems than their peers in Britain, older Americans live longer once they make it to 70. Why would this be?
Is it because Americans who reach 70 are “heartier” than Britons, as Columbia University PhD (but now on leave and working at HHS) Sherry Giled says. Or is better survival of the American elderly one of the benefits of the “fury of American medicine?” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
