Senator Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) staked claim on controlling potential unwarranted insurance rate hikes by explaining her position: “Water and power are essential for life, so they are heavily regulated, and rate increases must be approved.” Likewise, she states, “Health insurance is also vital for life. It too should be strictly regulated so that people can afford this basic need.” Some may think the claim is mostly sophistry, but the Senator has a valid point. As it stands now, there’s a gaping loop hole for insurance companies. They may be required to accept pre-existing conditions, for example, but there’s currently nothing to stop them from gouging the rates into stratospheric proportions. A major concern about the HCR bill has always been that the insurance companies would pass the rate increases — increases that would make the cost of premiums so high that even the most affluent of the middle class would struggle to afford health insurance.
Healthcare Reform
Hard Time Getting A Doctor’s Appointment? Thank a Greedy Lawyer.
Everyone knows times are tough these days, but there’s a big difference between hanging out your shingle far enough for it to be seen and active selling. And that difference is driving good, caring, competent physicians out of practice in droves. Between the tough economic times overall, the chronic changes in government reimbursement, the hassle and delay in collecting at all, and the way that insurance companies come back and renegotiate after services have been provided… it’s no surprise that people have a hard time getting in to see the doctors that are still in practice.
They say it pays to advertise. Apparently it pays very well for jackpot trial attorneys. Medical Malpractice attorney’s commercials are all over daytime and late-night TV… now on the Internet as well.
Do You Feel You’ve Suffered From Your Doctor’s Neglect? Contact A Malpractice Attorney Now!
We’ve removed the links (why advertise for the enemy?) but the text remains the same.
The Liz Fowler Connection: WellPoint Commits Fraud, Targets Patients For Wrongful Cancellation
Federal investigators have revealed that the largest health insurance company in the country, WellPoint, is using a computer program to identify women with breast cancer. Why? To drop their coverage. Murray Waas, a well-respected investigational journalist, states WellPoint “specifically targeted women with breast cancer for aggressive investigation with the intent to cancel their policies.” Last month, Waas reported that AIDS patients were being similarly targeted for rescission. That practice has been going on since at least 2002, as is well-evidenced by the unlawful cancellation and subsequent cover-up in the Jerome Mitchell case.
Doctor: You Promised My Before and After Website Pictures Would be Anonymous
Many aesthetic surgeons place before and after pictures on their websites. Obtain patient’s detailed written permission before moving forward. Check. Place a black strip over identifying features if not highlighting facial features. Check. That’s it. Right? RIGHT?? Wrong. One surgeon learned that a de-identified photo had the patient’s name embedded in file name / properties … Read more
Health Care Reform Bill: Now Comes The Hard Part
It took Congress over a year to compile and construct it. It took creative maneuvers to pass it into law. Already unfounded fears are sticking doctors in the middle of what it means to their patients. Now comes the hard part. The Obama Administration now has to turn 2400 pages of words into changes in Health Care. Here’s the latest on the teams that are supposed to do it:
- Jay Angoff, consumer advocate, known nemesis of the insurance industry, heads up implementation of the regulation of insurers and insurance markets.
- Jeanne M. Lambrew comes back with experience from the Clinton administration to work on expanding coverage.
- Phyllis C. Borzi, a top Labor Department official, is assigned to ensure that employers are following the rules for some 150 million American insured persons.
Doctors Already Besieged by Questions About the new Health Care Laws
Though they wouldn’t have time to read the 2400 pages that are in it, though they had no real say in its contents and may even have been opposed to it, physicians all over the country are finding themselves bogged down by questions about the new health care reform law. Like most people, their patients are afraid of change. Some want to know if they will still be able to see their doctor. Others want to schedule surgeries before they even need them, out of fear that they may not be covered later. All of these questions are reasonable concerns, considering the relative vacuum of information on the practical implications and implementations of the new law. Nevertheless, they’re already starting to bog down some practices.
Medicare Cuts Postponed Again — this time until June 2010
One can easily wonder why they don’t just approve full payments for a year or two at a time. They can always eliminate it by future legislation once they determine what formula they DO want to use.
AHA Calls for Easing of New Rules on Electronic Health Record Requirements
…the ad states that the CMS’ proposed rule “proposes strict requirements that constrain hospitals as they work to implement new EHR systems, imposing a one-size-fits-all policy that ignores upfront cost, time and logistical challenges.”
Georgia First State to Rebel Against High Risk Pool in Healthcare Reform
The official version is that it’s a budgetary issue – that seems unlikely. John Oxendine, Georgia’s insurance commissioner, a Republican, has his eye on the Governor’s mansion in the upcoming election. The rebellion is cleverly wrung; no patients will lose any benefits nor will it affect the cost of insurance for Georgians. What it does is make a statement; while putting the burden on the Federal government to oversee the distribution of funds to those in need within the state.
Further proof of the real cause of the insubordination is found in Oxendine’s letter to Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services. In that letter, he said that he would not involve Georgia in “a scheme which I believe the Supreme Court will hold to be unconstitutional, leads to the further expansion of the federal government, undermines the financial security of our nation, and potentially commits the State of Georgia to future financial obligations.” Obviously it wasn’t really about the state’s cost of administering the funds provided by the Federal government. Using the fate of uninsured high-risk citizens as a soapbox for a political statement is transparent. The Republican Primary for Governor is coming up in July. Oxendine hopes to distinguish himself from the field with this move, even though the action changes nothing – amounting to nothing more than token blustering.
Access Issues; Are Nurse Practitioners The Key To Functional Health Care Reform?
The news is shifting away from health care reform. Speculation is even starting to wind down a bit. Maybe now we can get down to the nuts and bolts, the real practical aspects of healthcare and what the new legislation means for both patients and providers. In a recent discussion between physicians, it was noted that the 32 million people (who are expected to join the ranks of the insured in just under a decade,) are not new patients. They exist right now, get ill and need treatment already. They’re just not getting it in efficient or conventional ways.
That’s a good thing. Our system is already overburdened, so adding 32 million new patients would be untenable, if they were actually new patients. But our country still needs more physicians and more access to health care providers.
