GOVERNMENT SLEIGHT OF HAND-Empty promises sticking the Public and Med Profession

[Rastus]

The medical profession is not without it's own problems.  I have a friend whose wife is a doctor.  She was out over $100k non-pay disallowed by bean counters because....she saw no reason to prescribe medicine.  No medicine, no service performed, so no pay.  She had to sue, it went to arbitration and there you go, she got paid for her work but was threatened to no longer be able to bill for Medicare or Medicaid patients...some threat, eh?

For all of you guys supporting health care did you know, as Congress does, that:

1.  More benefits are extended than money was appropriated for over the last few years (and Congress and President Bush knew this....ditto for BHO....with private pay picking up the tab).  They knowingly make promises that cannot be kept.
2.  Go betweens, similar to Blue Cross, make determinations to pay or not pay and are compensated for "savings".
3.  Regular doctors get cost less about 15%.
4.  Doctors in a hospital system get cost or cost maybe less 5%.
5.  Doctors that work in a university/school system get cost plus 10 or 15 %.

What is fair about this?  How does this help support the local doctor who is making $85k knocking his lights out watching his buddy who may not have been 1/2 the doctor make $115k in a posh univeristy setting without overhead?

If you supported BHO, Reid, Pelosi, Dodd, Schumer or like ilk in the past and regret it why would you think anything from that den of liars and thieves is really going to help you and not further debilitate the nation while stealing our liberty?

Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16
Walgreens will stop taking new Medicaid patients in Washington state as of April 16, saying it loses money filling their prescriptions.

By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter

News release: http://news.walgreens.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5288

Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won't take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement.

The company, which operates 121 stores in the state, will continue filling Medicaid prescriptions for current patients.

In a news release, Walgreens said its decision to not take new Medicaid patients stemmed from a "continued reduction in reimbursement" under the state's Medicaid program, which reimburses it at less than the break-even point for 95 percent of brand-name medications dispensed to Medicaid patents.

Walgreens follows Bartell Drugs, which stopped taking new Medicaid patients last month at all 57 of its stores in Washington, though it still fills Medicaid prescriptions for existing customers at all but 15 of those stores.

Doug Porter, the state's director of Medicaid, said Medicaid recipients should be able to readily find another pharmacy because "we have many more pharmacy providers in our network than we need" for the state's 1 million Medicaid clients.

He said those who can't can contact the state's Medical Assistance Customer Service Center at 1-800-562-3022 for help in locating one.

Along with Walgreens and Bartell, the Ritzville Drug Company in Adams County announced in November that it would stop participating in Medicaid.

Fred Meyer and Safeway said their pharmacies would continue to serve existing Medicaid patients and to take new ones, though both expressed concern that the reimbursement rate is too low for pharmacies to make a profit.

The amount private insurers and Medicaid pay pharmacies for prescriptions isn't the actual cost of those drugs but rather is based on what's called the drug's estimated average wholesale price. But that figure is more like the sticker price on a car than its actual wholesale cost.

Washington was reimbursing pharmacies 86 percent of a drug's average wholesale price until July, when it began paying them just 84 percent. Pharmacies weren't happy about that.

Then in September came another blow. The average wholesale price is calculated by a private company, which was accused in a Massachusetts lawsuit of fraudulently inflating its figures. The company did not admit wrongdoing but agreed in a court settlement to ratchet its figures down by about 4 percent.

That agreement took effect in September — and prompted a lawsuit by a group of pharmacies and trade associations that said Washington state didn't follow federal law in setting its reimbursement rate, and that that rate is too low. The lawsuit is pending.

"Washington state Medicaid is now reimbursing pharmacies less than their cost of participation," said Jeff Rochon, CEO of the Washington State Pharmacy Association.

Pharmacies that continue to fill Medicaid prescriptions at the current state reimbursement rate are "at risk of putting themselves out of business altogether," he said.

----End of Story

Gee guys...they can't afford what they promise and do not provide now....what makes anyone think they can provide us with anything less than abject failure?

[tt11758]

This will continue, but on a much grander scale if Obamacare is enacted.  The only exception is that pharmacies (and other providers) will be REQUIRED to accept what the government decides is the amount they should receive.  This will drive pharmacies and hospitals out of business, and prevent many intelligent, gifted, caring individuals from entering the medical profession.  I mean, why enter a profession where you'll make less than providing your service costs you?

[alfsauve]

And the AMA says about 1/3 of doctors will leave medicine if this bill passes.

THAT ISN'T JUST HYPOTHETICAL.    MINE QUIT ALREADY WHILE THE QUITTING WAS GOOD.

So the without sufficient providers, many of us will wait, weeks or months to get an appointment.  Of course with only 2/3 the providers the payouts will be about 1/3 less anyway.   Cost problem solved.  And don't kid yourself, that's part of the overall plan.

My close and personal friend Tracy has all the info on her blog
http://tracywaltersblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/survey-says-nearly-one-third-of-doctors.html

[Rastus]

And the AMA says about 1/3 of doctors will leave medicine if this bill passes.
.....

No disrespect to you Al it's just a quote.

I think this is a lot of blow from the doctors.  They need incomes too, and they probably all think they will get a job with a drug maker or some medical supply company....too many doctors not enough jobs.

What can a doctor do with his training if not doctor?  They'll have to go back and be retrained and they won't like the pay cut.

They need to man up and shut their doors in protest or demand $$$$ and no insurance....I think the AMA is full of it and they will cave...just like the doctors did in Europe.

[tt11758]

No disrespect to you Al it's just a quote.

I think this is a lot of blow from the doctors.  They need incomes too, and they probably all think they will get a job with a drug maker or some medical supply company....too many doctors not enough jobs.

What can a doctor do with his training if not doctor?  They'll have to go back and be retrained and they won't like the pay cut.

They need to man up and shut their doors in protest or demand $$$$ and no insurance....I think the AMA is full of it and they will cave...just like the doctors did in Europe.

Some will become plumbers, some will become accountants, some will become lawyers, some will start their own businesses, some will retire.  The point is that most of them, with the exception of the ones most recently out of medical school, have amassed the fiscal resources to be able to afford to assess their options, retrain, reinvest, or whatever it takes to enter a profession with less stress and more reward than will be available to them under the Obamacare system. 

You talk about taking the pay cut.......how much of a pay cut will they be taking when the government allows them 85% of their cost of providing a service as their payment for providing that service.  You must remember that the President, Pelosi, Reid, etc, have promised that this is merely a first step-toward a single-payer system.  That scares the shit out of me.

While I agree that the AMA may be posturing, they may also be telling it like it is.  I'm personally not willing to take that chance.  I'm not healthy enough to be able to AFFORD to take that chance.

[Sponsor]

[alfsauve]

No disrespect to you Al it's just a quote.

It is supposedly based on a poll of their members....however scientific and whether the members will go through with it is another question.   

In my case, (anecdotal evidence I realize), my personal physician of the last 15 years has quit already over this.  He's taking a job in a warmer climate utilizing his undergrad degree in Engineering.  Yes he and his wife have worked hard and accumulated some wealth.  They've spent and invested wisely and can get along well on lesser incomes.    "Happier Incomes" as he puts it.    He loved being a doctor and taking care of people, but the negative factors now outweigh the positive ones....for him.

I don't know if 1/3 of the doctors will actually quit, but on the other hand, I don't think my friend is or will be the only one.

[Rastus]

................
While I agree that the AMA may be posturing, they may also be telling it like it is.  I'm personally not willing to take that chance.  I'm not healthy enough to be able to AFFORD to take that chance.

Well, there are already a large number of physician sell-outs to the fascists pushing this thing.  I think it would be great for them to stand...but I have my doubts.  Better for this thing to get beat back and go away.  

I wonder, if they get their damned health care bill, will doctors be able to fly the flag outside the office and still get paid?

[fightingquaker13]

Well, there are already a large number of physician sell-outs to the fascists pushing this thing.  I think it would be great for them to stand...but I have my doubts.  Better for this thing to get beat back and go away.  

I wonder, if they get their damned health care bill, will doctors be able to fly the flag outside the office and still get paid?

Not sellouts Rastus, just desperate. Remember med shool is about 30K a year. Not all doctors (most in fact)  get rich. They get paid well, say $80k per year as a GP, but that ain't rich, particularly when you add kids and a mortgage and a $120K note to the student loan folks whose lien can't be absolved through bankruptcy. What else can they do but practice medicine? They are like me (only more useful). They  spend years and dollars to learn a specialized trade and then its either gone or ruined and your only other skill set is a job you could have gotten out of high school. It is also complicated by the fact that if you go on strike to make a point, you are effectively taking your patients hostage. All well and good if you're a dermatologist, not so much if you're an oncologist or in trauma. You won't do that if you're worth a damn and the government knows it. The solution isn't with them, its with us.
FQ13