Archive for the ‘Health Care Reform’ Category

Question by : Do you believe that the rising cost of healthcare is due to the uninsured?
As I type this, I’m sitting behind the console of GE Healthcare’s 64 slice VCT Scanner. It’s slow in the ER right now, so I can dick off on the internet for a bit. I hear all of this talk about how we “pay for everyone’s healthcare who don’t have insurance.” This premise is laughable. No we do not. That is a lie from the left. The hospital simply writes it off. It has little effect on the cost of services. But….. I’ll tell you what is a driving force behind increasing costs for patients. The cost of an Abdomen and Pelvis CT with IV contrast is around $ 2000 at my facility. Why? Because the aforementioned CT scanner’s price tag is a cool $ 1 million. The yearly service contract runs about $ 100k and supplies run another $ 250k. The scanner is a money maker for sure. One of the hospital’s greatest sources of revenue…. but why does it cost so much? Because aside from the cost to operate, the CT must make up the difference for those areas that operate at a loss. The ER? Nah, they pretty much break even, even though that’s where the uninsured go. Inpatients? Nah, they actually are in the black. (just barely) Where then? ……hmmmmm…. 40% of this facility’s loss in accrued by things like occupational therapy, drug rehab, corporate compliance, idiotic mandates, liability insurance and claims, employee entitlements…. etc. It is NOT. Let me repeat that…. NOT because of the uninsured. oops, well I just got an order from the ER for an abdomen/pelvis CT. It seems the guy has a stomach ache and a history of diverticulitis. We already know what’s wrong with him…. but hey, let’s do a CT so we don’t get sued in case we’re wrong. It could be an aneurysm I suppose….. at any rate medicaid will pay us $ 212.00 for the scan…..christ……
JA N, yes, you are correct. The cost is the same. 30 minutes of my time plus electricity comes to about $ 25.00 in real costs to the hospital for the CT. The HUGE markup is to cover non-essential services often FORCED on us by a well meaning government. example? JCAHO. What a pitifully worthless (and expensive) institution that is!

Guest commentary: Caucus voting night, but I had to take a seat

Filed under: healthcare stimulus package

Obama's deficiency even in leading on what seemly are his proposals: Healthcare seemed to slowly be turned into nanny care, and the his stimulus package was given to Reid, Lieberman and Pelosi under the tutelage of Larry Summers: Truly a package …
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Comparative effectiveness research plan seeks input from all sides

Filed under: healthcare stimulus package

Each received a share of $ 1.1 billion in medical effectiveness research funding in the 2009 federal stimulus package. PCORI also is not the first organization to draft priorities for medical effectiveness research. An Institute of Medicine committee in …
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TriMet Seeks Public Comment on Cuts, Fare Raises

Filed under: healthcare stimulus package

Tennessee and Georgia resist health care reform

Filed under: healthcare reform pass

by Mariann Martin With less than a year before state legislation must be in place to implement a critical part of national health care reform, Tennessee and Georgia, along with 18 other states, have not made substantial progress toward meeting federal …
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About this article

Filed under: healthcare reform pass

And on the Healthcare network, Pollyanna Perkins writes about the disruptive impact of the government's reform plans on health service staff: I have worked with six very different PCTs alongside passionate, dedicated, knowledgeable professionals.
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Related Healthcare Reform Pass Information…

Gingrich: Romney Couldn't 'Defend Himself' On Health Care In Debate Against Obama

Filed under: halth insurance

News organizations are covering the increasingly bitter Florida presidential primary race, which includes attacks on Mitt Romney's health care record by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole said this week …
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McClaughry: Ducking the Shumlin health exchange bullet

Filed under: single payer

This would merge the present small group market with the individual market as an important step toward Shumlin's goal of installing single-payer Green Mountain Care in 2017. After that date, if Green Mountain Care is actually put in place, …
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What if 911 was run by health insurers?

Filed under: single payer

Much of the following is taken from J. Wesley Boyd, MD, Ph.D. “Health Care Blues—or, Why Exactly Don't We Have Single-Payer National Health Insurance” ( Physicians for a National Health Program communiqué 1 Nov. 2011) “I have an armed intruder in my …
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New Hampshire Democrats Launch Petition To Block Health Care Reform

Filed under: healthcare reform cost

Bettencourt said the bill — which is being pushed nationally by the American Legislative Exchange Council — is needed to help bring health care reform to New Hampshire and other states. He said the legislation would allow the state to write its own …
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Amgen's Full Year 2011 Revenue Increased 4 Percent to .6 Billion and …

Filed under: healthcare reform cost

This increase was driven primarily by the US healthcare reform federal excise fee. For 2011, SG&A expenses increased 13 percent to $ 4434 million versus $ 3925 million in 2010. This increase was driven primarily by the US healthcare reform federal excise …
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Bold new vision for health-care reform is welcome

Filed under: healthcare reform cost