Hospital Groups and AMA Don't Want Medicare Buy-In. That Must Mean It's A Good Idea.
Oh, of course they're opposing it! But let's remember these are the most conservative, corporate trade groups in health care. And really, the more they oppose the buy-in, the more likely it is that it's a good idea:
Groups representing doctors and hospitals are coming out against the inclusion of a Medicare "buy-in" in the Senate health bill, The Washington Post reports. The groups joined Republicans in arguing "that a plan by liberal Democrats to allow uninsured individuals as young as 55 to buy into Medicare would be financially untenable and would jeopardize access to health-care services for millions of Americans."
The organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and the American Medical Association, said the proposal would hurt their members because Medicare pays providers at a lower rate than private insurers. "Hospital representatives said the idea also would violate a deal they reached with the White House this year to give up $155 billion in Medicare payments over the next decade. The concession helped to lower the cost of a health-care package that promised hospitals a pool of at least 30 million newly insured customers" (Murray and Montgomery, 12/10).
Personally, I think they should be grateful to have jobs when 20% of the country is out of work. But some people just have no discretion.
USA Today: "Though the idea gained traction on Capitol Hill — and got a boost from President Obama — the outcry from the medical groups underscored the difficulty lawmakers are facing as they look for compromises that can win broad support for the Senate's bill, which would cost $848 billion in the first 10 years. 'Bringing more people into a system that doesn't work very well is not a good answer,' said Jeffrey Korsmo, executive director of the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center. 'The current Medicare program is not sustainable'" (Fritze, 12/10).
No, it isn't. But as soon as we stop the massive fraud and abuses in Medicare Part D (you know, the private-sector plan?), it'll be much better.
The New York Times: "The American Hospital Association issued an action alert on Tuesday urging its members to oppose the plan and to call their senators’ offices. ... The Federation of American Hospitals also issued a bulletin ... 'Any Medicare Buy-In would invariably lead to crowd out of the private health insurance market, placing more people into Medicare,' the group said. 'It is critical that you contact your Democratic Senators today!'" (Pear and Herszenhorn, 12/9).
So they admit they like it when fewer people can actually afford health care.
The Wall Street Journal: "The insurance industry's trade association, America's Health Insurance Plans, opposed the measure to fix companies' medical-loss ratios at 90%. Medical-loss ratios are closely watched measures of how many premium dollars companies spend on patient care versus administrative costs and profits." Insurers say it would be very difficult to reach and could hurt their abilities to "weed out fraud and run other programs designed to cut costs and improve wellness."
No, it's much better to have insurance companies knocking a half-million people at a shot off their rolls to keep the MLR low enough to pump up the stock. Okay, we've established what you are, we're only negotiating price.
Drug companies as well could see less money for medicines under the Medicare plan than what private insurers give them, the Journal reports (Johnson and Rockoff, 12/10).
Oh, boo hoo. See above comment about being grateful to have jobs.
Remember when extortion was a crime?
Now, it's a corporate strategy.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Everyone should be grateful their retirement nest egg has risen to 75 Cents.
If you use twitter then tweet this
@GOPleader I boycott conserv contributors RiteAid TysonFoods JackDaniels AmExp Wendys until U get HR676 enacted RT please #progressive #hcr
Yet again these 'doctors' demonstrate their personal greed versus the actual well being of human beings who have no health insurance. That's all that matters: their personal profit. And, boy, does this back up an anonymous survey taken of UCLA medical students a few years back that asked how many were becoming doctors because they wanted to HEAL people versus becoming doctors in order to make money and get rich. The answer: 75 percent said they were in it for the money. Welcome to America. And, as a result, 'doctors' kill over 96,000 people a year ......kill..think of it ..KILL human beings because of their fucking mistakes. Yep, it's all about the money ..........
themselves sick so they will get sick. Quite a racket.
Susie:
This is an interesting point of view but NOW the NYT is reporting that Reid and the details leaking out of the CBO indicate that the 'deal' reached by Reid and his collaborators versus a STRONG PUBLIC OPTION have been a TOTAL LIE. Reid has bargained away almost every aspect of reform so it stating to look like he caved on EVERYTHING...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/health/poli...
What Winski said.
And we're surprised by this why?
I guess wishing him dead gets my comment deleted. So I won't.
I'm sure he'll live forever, on his guaranteed fully covered at no cost government run healthcare.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Reid has bargained away almost every aspect of reform so it stating to look like he caved on EVERYTHING...
He'd bargain away his own grey haired old mother if he thought it would get him a "donation".
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Sure, prices will go down, but the volume of services & drugs being sold will go way WAY up, and in the end the drug companies & hospitals will make more money.
But they can't see that, or don't care. They're happy the way things are. They also don't grasp that 3/4's of Americans are very VERY unhappy. After this lame parody of a bill is passed & signed by Obama, 3/4's of Americans are going to be FURIOUS.
They forget: You can't fool All the People All the Time. Not even with a corporate media on their side. Just about EVERYONE with med insurance has been shafted in one way or another, or at least badgered and threatened over the Insurance Co's dishonest billing practices.
So...having thrown his reputation behind this big bag of shit, I assume it can now safely be said that Howard Dean is officially a jackass.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Accepting a position just because of who opposes it. Yes, it is a good sign that two arch-conservative groups oppose the Medicare buy-in, but does that extrapolate out to that now we should all get behind it and make it the default position of those of us who want substantive health care reform? I have some serious concerns with that kind of thinking, especially because a case could be made that the rethuglicans and conservatives do the exact same thing with a whole host of positions liberals take. "Liberals don't like it therefore it must be good". It's lazy thinking and I don't accept it from the GOoPers, but for some reason I am supposed to accept it from people with whom I supposedly share common goals.
Thank you for your concern.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Dollars and cents, dollars and cents
"Greed In America," our owners present
You know, sometimes I wonder why I'm going into graphic design and advertising, seeing how powerful and pervasive a force it's become in our world. Do I want to be a part of that? Maybe I can use my talent and skill for good, or maybe I'll just become the thing I hate the most. Not even the sun shines on us 24/7, but advertising sure does. How funny is that, advertising and consuming are much greater forces in our lives than the god damn sun. Through an advertising onslaught costing hundreds of millions of dollars, the insurance companies and big pharma have convinced millions of Americans that our current system is just fine. Even more rich than that is that they've convinced them that in the current system they have "choice" and health care is so cheap because of the "competition." Lies, every single one of them, just like the Enxite commercials, but most people believe and hear what they want to hear, and follow accordingly.
I suppose this sort of power is attractive to a lot of people. They teach us in school not to lie, but it's the first thing you have to get good at to be successful in society.
But THIS deserves it's own thread:
Bill O'Reilly lashes out at 'Law & Order' executive producer
Apparently Bill can NOT handle the truth.
Except that just today the Center for Medicare and Medicaid released a pretty damning (at least from what I've read) analysis of the impact of the Reid Bill on rural hospitals and providers. This even before considering the impact of expanding to age 55.
Which might mean that the Senate will be more willing to look at increased revenues such as those
offered in the House Bill to be targeted towards the problem.
plus bonuses based on patient outcomes. Keep health care affordable, efficient, and effective.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
The Democrats will be faulted more for tactical blunders than good intentions.
The American public should be faulted for its own shortcomings. It allowed itself to once again be swayed by the "fear" of government. It allowed itself to once again think that the for-profit sector must be a part of the system. It allowed itself once again to be convinced that the "American way" is the best way (meaning let's not learn from any other countries...and let's be willing to believe lies about them).
It once again demonstrated that there is not a viable concept of "national unity and purpose" in this country (i.e., "I'm only thinking of myself, not what's best for the country as a whole").
Now, given the above, it becomes imperative then that the reforms come from within the private sector itself. Since the rise in health care costs comes from within that sector, it is up to the major treatment players such as the AMA and AHA to step forward on their own and tackle this issue of cost. I'd love to see a major effort underway to take models such as Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, even Kaiser and make them the de facto models for hospitals and doctors everywhere. Yeah, there would be some major infighting, but at least it wouldn't be dominated by blatant political partisanship or the equivalent of the Senate's 60 vote obstacle. And just for laughs, let's have all 50 states have the tort reform that 39 states already have (and which have done little to decrease health care costs).
Not that I'm at all optimistic the private sector could or would do it.
Now, given the above, it becomes imperative then that the reforms come from within the private sector itself.
yeah...it worked in the airline industry, telecommunications, infrastructure, the environment, finance...etc. etc.
You're just another free market concern troll.
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
Hospital Groups and AMA Don't Want Medicare Buy-In.
Who was the source for this story? Did Nancy Pelosi over hear it while she was standing near the adult's table asking for a cookie at the Insurance Industry lobby Christmas Party?
"Anyone that makes less than $150K in this country, has no business voting Republican."
at the Insurance lobby Xmas soiree.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Susie Madrak said, "No, it isn't. But as soon as we stop the massive fraud and abuses in Medicare Part D (you know, the private-sector plan?), it'll be much better."
Actually Medicare Part D is the very expensive drug component of Medicare that was passed during Bush 43. Not getting too much into the weeds about that, but I would also say that Billy Touzin, who revolved himself into a BigPharma job soon after, did not serve the country well in the way he negotiated drug prices. So that's Part D.
Medicare Advantage Plans are yet another issue, and I think that's what the reform plan has tried to address. It gets pretty complicated, but Advantage plans are usually chosen instead of the basic Parts A and B that all seniors (and some others) are entitled to AND THEY INVOLVE SIGNIFICANT GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES. Advantage plans are not the same as the medigap and other plans that help basic Medicare insureds cover their deductibles and copays.
For someone 55-65 years old, about $7600 per year. Hoo-ah, bargain ... not.
That's according to this --
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/12/how_a... .
So the ONLY people likely to buy-in would be those with an urgent need to do so. That is,those who have been refused by the insurance companies, and are about to die unless they get treatment.
Sometimes after working with certain surgeons, I want to call up the residency programs that they graduated from and ask them what the fuck they were thinking. Can't tell you how many times I've prevented some of these jerks from fucking up.
"That's an artery.
Don't cut that.
That's an ARTERY!
Suture."
My HS counselor told me I should NOT even try to go to medical school because my GPA was only 3.8. If I met him on the street today I wouldn't punch him in the face because I might hurt my hand, which is my career. Rather a swift kick to the balls would suffice.
The AMA has no business passing judgement on HC. They do NOT police their own. It's a huge fraternity. If you want to observe entitlement at it's most obscene, hang out in a doctor's lounge. They think they know everything about everything, and the lawyers are public enemy #1. There are many stand up people in the medical profession, but I have no respect for those who spend more time on ameritrade than reading journals, and then call me a communist for giving a shit about the uninsured "slackers".
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
I was talking to a friend today about hospital stays and one of the things we were joking about was how the incidentals are so expensive. Like if you open the box of kleenex in your room, it costs you 10 bucks. I'd sure like to see something in the health care bill that forces doctors and hospitals to charge the mfg's retail price for those items. That's still more than you'd pay at a discount store, but at least they couldn't gouge us for those items.
... because they're beholden to the insurance companies. The insurance companies are the golden goose that drops the golden egg into the doctors' hands. Even if they fuck up and kill the patient.
Where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be? Explains a lot.
It should scare the hell out of us that every sector is most likely as greedy and unconcerned with anyones well being overall. The bottom line and all. Of course it's something we all knew, but think about it...health care, energy, tele-communications, finance, airline. All a bunch of greedy pricks with congress in their back pocket.
It's time for a push towards term limits again but neither group is willing to cut their own throats so it will be a tough slog.
Make medicare availale to everyone who needs insurance- unemployed, self employed, very small businesses on a sliding scale of medicare pay rates based on age, examples
over 65, as it is now
60-64, pay docs and hospitald medicare +5%
55-59, pay docs and hospitals medicare +10%
50-54, pay docs and hospitals medicare +15%
45-49, pay docs and hospitals medicare +20%
I don't know where it ends as fare as the pay schedule but it should stop where the gov can comptete effetively
Then you trigger raising the size of companies who can participate, this threat would be more effective than any other proposed so far.
Many more can be insured
Insurance companies should compete
The gov gets a better/same base of potential customers that insurance company's do
It's "medicare for all" who need it! a true public option
Doc and hoapitals get better reinmbursement rates
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