Category: Health Care
DEMOCRATS to REIMBURSE Insurance Companies Up to 80% on O-Care Losses
Dem Rep. Rahall: Obama May Not Have Legal Authority For His ObamaCare Fix
UnitedHealth drops thousands of doctors from insurance plans
UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company’s other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.
The Journal report said that doctors in at least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing “significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment.” According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.
Tyler Mason, a UnitedHealth spokesperson, was not immediately available for comment when reached by Reuters.
The insurer told the WSJ that its provider networks were always changing and that it expected its Medicare Advantage network to be 85 percent to 90 percent of its current size by the end of 2014.
Read more here.
Seven Devastating Obamacare Facts
1. Obamacare will cost taxpayers $1.8 to $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years. Over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates Obamacare will cost American taxpayers $1.798 trillion. The Republican Senate Budget Committee says CBO’s numbers rely on overly optimistic economic assumptions and puts the true cost at $2.6 trillion.
2. At least 3.5 million Americans have already received health insurance cancelation notices. According to data compiled by the Associated Press, 3.5 million Americans have received notices from their health insurance companies that their plans will be canceled due to Obamacare–something Obama explicitly promised would not occur. Worse, the Associated Press’s calculations are expected to rise, as they are based on data for just half of the states.
3. The now-infamous Obamacare website cost U.S. taxpayers over $1 billion to build. A Bloomberg analysis finds that the broken Obamacare website and its supporting IT infrastructure cost American taxpayers over $1 billion.
4. The New York Times says Obamacare “will leave out two-thirds of poor blacks and single mothers.” The Times’ analysis concluded that Obamacare “will leave out two-thirds of the poor blacks and single mothers and more than half of the low-wage workers who do not have insurance, the very kinds of people that the program was intended to help.”
5. Tens of thousands of worker hours and jobs have already been cut due to Obamacare. Local stories of employers slashing jobs and worker hours have become common since Obamacare went into effect. As of Oct. 17, Investor’s Business Daily’s running Obamacare scorecard listed at least 351 employers who have cut jobs or hours in response to Obamacare.
6. Premiums will rise by 99% for young men and between 55% to 62% for young women. As CBS News has reported, an analysis by the Manhattan Institute finds that, despite the Affordable Care Act’s name, health insurance premiums will rise dramatically under Obamacare for young men and women–the individuals Obamacare relies on to fund coverage and subsidies for older, sicker Americans.
7. Obama promised no less than 23 times that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.” NY Magazine compiled 23 video clips of Obama promising that Obamacare would not result in Americans losing their current health care insurance.
Ted Cruz: “I Will Continue to do Anything I Can to Stop the Train Wreck that is Obamacare”
House Republicans Announce They Will Defy Harry Reid
House Republicans announced on Saturday afternoon they would vote on a plan that seeks to delay President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law by one year.
“The American people don’t want a government shut down and they don’t want ObamaCare,” said a joint statement from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA).
“That’s why later today, the House will vote on two amendments to the Senate-passed continuing resolution that will keep the government open and stop as much of the president’s health care law as possible,” it continued.
Read more here.
The ObamaCare Song
How ObamaCare Is Destroying PRMC
I would like to point out how Obama-care is causing the changes at PRMC. The new rule is, if a patient is re-admitted within 30 days of their discharge medicare/cade does not pay the hospital. I would like to put this in the context of 3 common examples.
1- Patient comes into hospital with a heart attack- they are stabilized and found to be a candidate for open heart surgery. The patient is discharged home for a week or less to gain strength for the surgery. The patient is readmitted for surgery- NO PAY for open heart surgery!
2- A patient has cancer. The patient is on a 21 day cycle of chemotherapy and has to be admitted for 1 or 2 days to take their treatment. The patient is admitted for the first treatment, discharged and is admitted again 21 days later for their next treatment. This cycle is subsequently repeated. NO PAY for subsequent treatments!
3- A patient is admitted for an exacerbation of a chronic condition (i.e. Heart Failure and others). The patient is admitted, stabilized, and discharged. When the patient goes home they have trouble taking or refuse to take their new medications to treat their condition. The patient is readmitted within 30 days due to their medication failure- NO PAY for subsequent admission!
1+2+3= ALOT OF $$$
Maryland, under O’Mally’s leadership, has been the most aggressive state in implementing Obama-care. No hospital in Maryland is currently turning a profit- a direct result of the 30 day rule!
I agree that shutting down the transitional care unit makes business sense, since there are other facilities (Healthsouth and others) who can provide this service. But, the transitional care unit is a small fraction of the real problem that PRMC is facing.
PRMC as a whole has effectively positioned itself for the new healthcare landscape. They have invested in outpatient facilities to focus on keeping people out of the hospital while maintaining cash flow. The hospital will still be there for acute care, but the goal is to decrease the need for acute care.
There will be ALOT of changes coming to healthcare in our country- some good, some bad. FOR SURE it will include more layoffs at PRMC! It will take time, but, I am confident that PRMC will recover and become a streamlined business.
From Anonymous…..
‘1st draft of Articles of Impeachment’ arrives
Obamacare not only is unconstitutional, it illegally bypasses Congress, infringes on states’ rights and marks an unprecedented and unauthorized expansion of Internal Revenue Service power, according to a brand-new book released today.
In “Impeachable Offenses: The Case to Remove Barack Obama from Office,” New York Times bestselling authors Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott quote scholars and legal organizations contending Obamacare constitutes a clear case of “taxation without representation.”
“Impeachable Offenses” shows Obamacare may violate multiple sections of the Constitution.
While the Obama administration may argue the healthcare legislation was upheld by the Supreme Court, “Impeachable Offenses” reports the White House has been hard at work changing the implementation of key sections of Obamacare without congressional oversight.
Read more here.
U.S. Constitutional Free Press 