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Medical Records Request

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The folks in DC want to save Medicare. This will be accomplished with major surgery. Your doctor will be paid less, but so what? He earns more than you and can afford to take a pay cut, right?

Some medical services may no longer be paid for by Medicare, but no big deal. You probably didn’t really need that treatment and you have lived a long life already. Your time on this earth can’t be that much longer.

Washington wants your private medical history. Don’t worry. It is for the good of the people. Your records will not be used against you. After all, this is Washington and everyone knows they can keep a secret.

Medicare CutsMedical Records No Longer Private

According to U S News the Obama administration will be requiring all doctors to submit your medical records to the government.

You don’t have a problem with that do you?

 

HHS is making plans to get its hands on your health care records, one way or another, whether you want them to have it or not.

The department’s first choice is to collect them directly. If they can’t manage that, Plan B is to require the states to collect the data and take it from there. Plan C is to lean on health insurers, using a new regulatory scheme that would require private companies to crunch the data according to new federal mandates the ways the feds want it.

Does any of this bother you, or is it just me?

Been to the doctor lately? Things are different now.

This is Not Your Father’s Doctor Visit . . .

A few weeks ago we were out of town and my wife became ill. I took her to a local doc in a box which was an experience in itself.

As first time visitors, she was required to complete a detailed medical history. About 10 minutes or so with a nurse, answering questions, then sign here.

No, you do not get a copy of this information. We are filing it electronically for your protection.

The entire visit took about an hour, most of that time was wait time even though we were the first ones in when the doors opened.

The entire bill for a routine exam and urinalysis was grossed up to $496. After network discounts it came to $248.

The break out was like this.

Gross charges $61 for professional visit, $40 for lab. Balance was for the medical history and establishing her account as a new patient.

Excuse me?

$395 for medical records that the patient doesn’t even get to see but are transmitted to HHS.

At this rate I don’t think Obamneycrap is going to save anyone any money.

How is this new government health care plan working for you?

Obamaneycare, a Giant Step Backwards

We were told that Obamacare was necessary because too many Americans were without health insurance—which is not the same thing as them being without medical care when it is needed. Rather than fix the stated problem, however, it has made things worse, even before it is fully implemented. According to some recent estimates more than 1 million Americans have lost their coverage in the period since Obamacare became law.

This is not progress.

No kidding.

Reminds me of the old saw. I am from the government and I am here to help you.

I don’t think so . . .

If you think they will stop here you are wrong.

In addition to cutting Medicare benefits, they also think your Medigap coverage is too “rich” and want to cut those benefits as well.

Georgia Medicare Plans can help you find the lowest Medigap rates in your area. We have plans from Dalton to Tifton with carriers such as Aetna, Blue Cross, Humana and more. Ask for a Medigap quote today.

Obamacare – Voters Still Don’t Understand It

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The election is here and most voters still don’t understand Obamacare and how it impacts them. This is especially true for those covered by Medicare.

A Harris poll out this week shows that more than 30 percent of the country would still like to see Obamacare repealed entirely, and another 22 percent would like to see parts of it repealed. The poll also suggests that even two years after the law passed, and after millions of people have started to see real benefits from it, most Americans remain clueless about how Obamacare works. One glaring example: The poll found that 34 percent of Republicans and 21 percent of independent voters erroneously believe the law has increased their taxes. (It hasn’t. None of the law’s tax provisions kick in until 2013. When they do, they will only affect individuals earning more than $200,000 a year, whose Medicare taxes will increase by 0.9 percent.)

Mother Jones, “Americans Clueless About Obamacare”

Mom missed the mark on that one since she ignored Five Major Obamacare Taxes.

The ObamaCare Medical Device Manufacturing Tax

This 2.3 percent tax on medical device makers will raise the price of (for example) every pacemaker, prosthetic limb, stent, and operating table.

The ObamaCare High Medical Bills Tax

The new ObamaCare provision will raise that threshold to 10 percent, subjecting patients to a higher tax bill. This tax will hit pre-retirement seniors the hardest.

The ObamaCare Flexible Spending Account Cap 

The 24 million Americans who have Flexible Spending Accounts will face a new federally imposed $2,500 annual cap.

note the ObamaCare “medicine cabinet tax” which since 2011 has barred the 13.5 million Americans with Health Savings Accounts from purchasing over-the-counter medicines with pre-tax funds.

The ObamaCare Surtax on Investment Income

The new ObamaCare surtax takes the top capital gains rate to 23.8 percent and top dividend rate to 43.4 percent.

The ObamaCare Medicare Payroll Tax increase

This tax soaks employers to the tune of $86 billion over the next ten years.

Many seniors are still working past age 65 and will be subject to Obamacare taxes. These taxes will raise your cost of health care, the cost of your health insurance (including Medigap) and impact your access to affordable health care.

As long as voters fail to understand the impact of Obamacare this monster tax bill will continue to impact your wallet and your quality of life.

Medicare Cash Doc

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Medicare cash docsIs your doctor becoming a Medicare cash doc? A trend that is gaining steam and creating a divide is doc’s that shun health insurance in favor of cash.

Let’s face it. Dependence on health insurance is over the top. Do you really need to pay an insurance carrier to cover expenditures less than $500? If so, you have bigger issues of concern.

Trend Toward Medicare Cash Doc

Some medical practices are limiting or even refusing insurance payments in favor of  becoming a Medicare cash doc with their fees paid direct by the patient.

Lower overhead is a benefit. Easy access to health care is another.

Though data on private practices is scanty, a new survey of 13,575 doctors from around the country by The Physicians Foundation found that over the next one to three years, more than 50 percent plan to take steps that reduce patient access to their services, and nearly 7 percent plan to switch to cash-only or concierge practices, in which patients pay an annual fee or retainer in addition to other fees.

NY Times, “When doctors refuse insurance“

50%? Ouch.

But, but, but what about all those newly insured patients with their shiny new Obamacare cards? Medicare patients will be squeezed as well unless they are seeing a doc that operates a geriatric practice.

Cash-only practices may exacerbate the access problem. Since her doctor stopped accepting her insurance, Kathryn Vanasek, 43, a mother of two in Manhattan, hasn’t been back for a checkup or preventive screenings, relying on a new walk-in clinic for urgent problems like an ear infection.

Her annual physical would cost at least $250 out of pocket, Ms. Vanasek said, but she would not get any money back from her insurer until she met the deductible.

How is that possible?

All legitimate major medical plans were required to offer “free” preventive checkup beginning over a year ago. Medicare beneficiaries also have a new Obamacare benefit allowing them to have a 118 point exam with no out of pocket costs.

Will the concept of Medicare cash doc continue to grow as projected? Time will tell.

When was the last time you checked Medigap rates to see if you are paying too much? Georgia Medicare Plans has a free no obligation Medigap quote engine. Follow this link for your instant Medicare supplement quote.

Liverpool Care Pathway

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You probably never heard of the Liverpool Care Pathway. But I guess you never heard of the IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board). However I am almost certain you know about the Obamacare death panels.

Each of the above are related.

The Liverpool Care Pathway

Doctors are to investigate public concerns over the use of the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway, which has been used without family members’ knowledge.

The technique is supposed to alleviate suffering in the final hours or days of a person’s life and can involve the removal of tubes artificially providing food and fluid.

Families have come forward saying their loved ones were placed on the pathway without their knowledge and argued they were not dying.

UK Telegraph, “Doctors investigate Liverpool Care Pathway”

Frightening, huh?

All part of an experiment to save Britain’s  NHS (National Health Service) socialized medicine program. You hear about the NHS, and if you watched the recent Olympics you saw a very entertaining skit about the NHS. But how much do you really know?

Andy Flanagan’s Liverpool Care Pathway Story

The family of a 48-year-old man have told how they rescued him from dying on the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway by reviving him with drops of water.
Andy Flanagan’s family were told that he was severely brain damaged, had organ failure and was close to death after a cardiac arrest.

They gathered at his bedside to say their goodbyes after the hospital withdrew fluids and said it was going to let him ‘slip away’.

But when Mr Flanagan’s sister, who is a nurse, gently moved him to change his bloodstained sheets, he started to murmur words, showing signs that he had not suffered severe brain damage.

Then, as she cleaned his face with a wet cloth, he desperately tried to suck in the moisture. The family continued their vigil at his bedside around the clock, concerned that doctors did not want to keep the patient alive.

Every ten minutes they gave him drops of water that helped him start to come round before doctors eventually agreed to put him back on a drip. Mr Flanagan recovered and returned home. He lived for another month and was able to properly say farewell to his loved ones.

Daily Mail UK, “A Pathway to Euthanasia”

Obamacare, Medicare and the IPAB

One little known or discussed aspect of Obamacare is the IPAB. What is the IPAB and how will it impact Medicare beneficiaries?

Beginning with fiscal 2015, if Medicare is projected to grow too quickly, IPAB will make binding recommendations to reduce spending. Those recommendations will be sent to Capitol Hill at the beginning of the year, and if Congress doesn’t like them, it must pass alternative cuts — of the same size — by August.

(The IPAB) will have 15 full-time members, and only a minority of them can be health care providers.

Hospitals, doctors, drug companies and some patient groups are worried IPAB will recommend reductions in Medicare payments — which they say already are too low — and that they won’t have the time or ability to counter the cuts during accelerated congressional action. Doctors and drug companies are particularly worried that they’ll bear a lot of the burden because hospitals and nursing homes aren’t subject to IPAB’s cost-cutting recommendations until fiscal 2020.

Kaiser Health News, “The IPAB”

Some of the IPAB recommendations include reduced funding for Medicare providers as well as providing oversight with regard to treatment protocol in an effort to save money. And what better way to save money than to deny payment for procedures that are expensive and not expected to prolong life?

Does this sound like the Liverpool Care Pathway?

It does to me.

If you don’t want Congress to implement the IPAB provision in Obamacare, and would rather have your doctor decide your care, then consider how you vote this November. Otherwise we might have our own version of the Liverpool Care Pathway here in the colonies.

 

ObamaScare and MediScare

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Obamacare is a bad law. Much of the focus on Obamacare, especially of late, has been directed on the much debated individual mandate that everyone have health insurance. And consequently, the discussion has revolved around individually owned major medical coverage where the biggest impact on rates and benefits will be felt.      

Fairy-GodmotherBut what about Medicare? The worker and taxpayer funded health insurance program for roughly 45 million people (mostly age 65 and older).

Much like the “final solution”, many of the government experiments in health care will be performed on the aged and poor.

Consider how Obamacare Ends Medicare as we Know It.

  • Obamacare makes massive changes to the program. Obamacare contains more than 160 provisions for Medicare that increase government’s control over the delivery of care, hit doctors with unsustainable payment cuts, and leave taxpayers with higher deficits.
  • Obamacare expands central planning and tightens price controls on providers. These recycled mechanisms have yet to show any success in driving down costs without harming patients’ access and quality of care. Even the program’s chief accountant says many Medicare providers cannot survive the cuts.
  •  On top of the severe payment cuts facing physicians that will threaten seniors’ access, the law weakens the doctor–patient relationship by linking payment not to patient outcomes but to adherence to government protocol.
Yes Virginia, the death panels, AKA the IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board) really will exist.
  • Obamacare’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation will conduct payment and delivery reform demonstrations with a goal of changing Medicare from fee-for-service to “capitated” or salaried payments. Unlike a pluralistic system of competitive plans, Medicare patients will have little or no control over whether or not they will be subject to these changes.
  • Obamacare squeezes an estimated $575 billion out of Medicare from provider payment cuts in its initial 10 years. But rather than plowing those savings back into Medicare to enhance the solvency of the program, the savings will be used to expand other Obamacare entitlements and programs.
This is called robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Our nations senior citizens will be robbed of their life savings in order to fund health insurance for the poor that are under age 65.

Poor is defined as a family of four making less than $80,000 or so.

And you thought change was going to be good. You probably still believe in fairy godmother’s, don’t you?