Health Care Reform Conference

#26
#26
McAllen TX sounds like an extreme example, but i think the real question is can we learn anything from this outlier that is applicable to the rest of the USA?

from the article:

The primary cause of McAllen’s extreme costs was, very simply, the across-the-board overuse of medicine.

This is a disturbing and perhaps surprising diagnosis. Americans like to believe that, with most things, more is better. But research suggests that where medicine is concerned it may actually be worse. For example, Rochester, Minnesota, where the Mayo Clinic dominates the scene, has fantastically high levels of technological capability and quality, but its Medicare spending is in the lowest fifteen per cent of the country—$6,688 per enrollee in 2006, which is eight thousand dollars less than the figure for McAllen. Two economists working at Dartmouth, Katherine Baicker and Amitabh Chandra, found that the more money Medicare spent per person in a given state the lower that state’s quality ranking tended to be. In fact, the four states with the highest levels of spending—Louisiana, Texas, California, and Florida—were near the bottom of the national rankings on the quality of patient care.
 
#27
#27
I may have missed this, sorry if it was previously posted.

This is a decent article on some 'freedoms' people will lose when it comes to their health insurance, based on their reading of the current health care bills. Considering this is coming from CNN (who I personally think doesn't vomit their bias as much as Fox News, but still has a noticeable one), I find its negativity interesting (the dems must really be fighting over this one :) ).

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/24/news/economy/health_care_reform_obama.fortune/index.htm
 
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#28
#28
kiddiedoc said:
If doctors were salaried at your rates, we would have exactly zero qualified candidates in the 2010 incoming medical class.
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They were also going to waive their medical school debt and cover the cost of their insurance, the version I've heard described.
 
#29
#29
TennTradition said:
I may have missed this, sorry if it was previously posted.
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interesting points.

imo any change that leaves out tort reform is meaningless, and tort reform has been conspicuously absent from the current proposal.



"All doctors are crooks."

-- Sen. Edward Kennedy
 
#31
#31
TennTradition said:
I may have missed this, sorry if it was previously posted.

This is a decent article on some 'freedoms' people will lose when it comes to their health insurance, based on their reading of the current health care bills. Considering this is coming from CNN (who I personally think doesn't vomit their bias as much as Fox News, but still has a noticeable one), I find its negativity interesting (the dems must really be fighting over this one :) ).

You'll lose 5 key freedoms under Obama's health care plan - Jul. 24, 2009
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A couple interesting points:

1. This is from the editor-at-large; not an invited article or editorial. Pretty strong stance for CNN/Money.

2. This shows the charade that Obama is perpetuating.

3. We are steadily shifting from healthcare reform to health insurance reform. They are related but different in substance. Even Obama used the health insurance reform terminology in his press conference.

4. These proposals suck. :)
 
#32
#32
One other point: Team Obama keeps stressing he wants more competition to drive down costs and that a public plan will do just this.

Clearly by standardizing what plans must be offered (as described in the CNN/Money article), competition will be limited. When you then add a government option that is subsidized, you will destroy competition.

Why am I not surprised that he doesn't understand how competitive markets operate?
 
#33
#33
volinbham said:
Why am I not surprised that he doesn't understand how competitive markets operate?
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Because you know he has abandoned any semblance of reality on the e onomic front and exchanged it for what feels good and buys votes. This scenario was predicted over and over in his run to the White House.

I glanced quickly at an article today about us trying to open negotiations with the Taliban. That was a tough one to foresee.
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#34
#34
BigPapaVol said:
I glanced quickly at an article today about us trying to open negotiations with the Taliban. That was a tough one to foresee.
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He's already making nicey nice with Syria and easing trade restrictions over the objections of Egypt and Israel.
 
#35
#35
volinbham said:
We are steadily shifting from healthcare reform to health insurance reform. They are related but different in substance. Even Obama used the health insurance reform terminology in his press conference.
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What do you mean by this?

Healthcare reform would be more geared towards how health professionals administer care...and insurance reform is more geared toward overhauling the insurance industry?

I never thought about separating it out like that. On the surface insurance reform sounds more reasonable, but I concede I'm ignorant on the nuances.
 
#36
#36
rjd970 said:
What do you mean by this?

Healthcare reform would be more geared towards how health professionals administer care...and insurance reform is more geared toward overhauling the insurance industry?

I never thought about separating it out like that. On the surface insurance reform sounds more reasonable, but I concede I'm ignorant on the nuances.
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Clearly the two are related but the focus is being placed more and more on who pays (insurance reform) and the rules rather than a broader look at how medicine is provided in this country.

I'd say this is a major reason why the cost curve isn't being bent down as they say - changing who pays won't have a major impact on costs or quality. The only real quality component is extending insurance to more people.
 
#38
#38
oklavol said:
I believe that's the same contract physicians who join the military get. I think that's the model thats being used.
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It still wouldn't even come close to offsetting up to a 50-80 percent paycut.
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#39
#39
kiddiedoc said:
It still wouldn't even come close to offsetting up to a 50-80 percent paycut.
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Are you a pediatrician? I'm assuming because of your screen name.

I would be insightful to get your opinion.
 
#40
#40
I am.

Like most physicians, I firmly believe that this is a terrible plan -- in terms of our ability to provide the best care possible on an individualized basis, the overall long-term quality of our health care system, the freedom of choice that we now enjoy, the overwhelming bureaucracy imposed, the lack of addressing tort reform, and the economic impact on the country.

There are certain ideals that most of us hope to see with reform: improved access to care, lowering costs of insurance and treatment, eliminating the "preexisting condition" hangups, and a transferable, permanent electronic health record. However, Obama's plan is simply not the answer.
 
#41
#41
People don't hate healthcare providers, they hate healthcare administrators. Case in point, I get a bill from the hospital for $9000 yesterday for my son's birth. He was born frigging 9.5 months ago. The bill says my insurer has denied the claim and I am to pay it all. I call my insurance and they say they have not denied anything and have never seen any request for payment on this. Unreal.
 
#42
#42
My wife used to audit hospitals, this is VERY common practice. They want you to not call your carrier and just pay the bill.
The hospital will only get about 1/2 of that 9K from the insurance company.
 
#43
#43
T-TownVol said:
My wife used to audit hospitals, this is VERY common practice. They want you to not call your carrier and just pay the bill.
The hospital will only get about 1/2 of that 9K from the insurance company.
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These people at this hospital are just straight up incompetent I am finding. I paid several bills between 100-500 dollars from them within months of his birth. So this tells me they obviously already got something from the insurance company back then in order to send me such small bills back then. Also, my wife called the hospital today and they said they had my son listed as a "sick" baby and that was what these extra charges "might" be for. He was not premature, spent no time in NICU and she had natural childbirth. These people are complete idiots. This is why people hate healthcare.
 
#44
#44
allvol123 said:
These people at this hospital are just straight up incompetent I am finding. I paid several bills between 100-500 dollars from them within months of his birth. So this tells me they obviously already got something from the insurance company back then in order to send me such small bills back then. Also, my wife called the hospital today and they said they had my son listed as a "sick" baby and that was what these extra charges "might" be for. He was not premature, spent no time in NICU and she had natural childbirth. These people are complete idiots. This is why people hate healthcare.
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Listen, you're preaching to the choir on this one. Doctors, as a general rule, have very little to do with big hospital bills and insurance charges. Our reimbursement rates are set (although we try to negotiate) by the insurors....and are set so that the companies and hospitals still make big bucks.

On a side note, 9K is a HUGE bill for a childbirth. Have you checked with your OB office? Ask for the office manager.
 
#45
#45
kiddiedoc said:
Listen, you're preaching to the choir on this one. Doctors, as a general rule, have very little to do with big hospital bills and insurance charges. Our reimbursement rates are set (although we try to negotiate) by the insurors....and are set so that the companies and hospitals still make big bucks.

On a side note, 9K is a HUGE bill for a childbirth. Have you checked with your OB office? Ask for the office manager.
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I thought it was a huge bill too. My wife is working on it. I am 99.9% sure I owe none of this. It just amazes me, the incompetence at some of these offices. I think we both agree, this is the part that gets people riled up about healthcare, the complete mess that the billing process is.
 
#46
#46
Don't worry about it......when all the billing comes form an office in DC, all will be great....and you will save money too!
 
#50
#50
OrangeEmpire said:
I think we paid $40 for our son's birth.
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I paid $100 when my daughter was born at Vanderbilt. One bill, simple, no confusion. End of story.

This idiotic hospital in Knoxville has managed to take one event and break it up into multiple transactions of which they themselves seem to be clueless in tracking.
 
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