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A Costly Medicare Surprise Awaits Retirees
Kiplingers ^ | 6/17/2015 | Susan B. Garland

Posted on 06/24/2015 8:14:41 AM PDT by mac_truck

click here to read article


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1 posted on 06/24/2015 8:14:41 AM PDT by mac_truck
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To: mac_truck

Fedguv to old Americans: “Just die, already.”


2 posted on 06/24/2015 8:20:36 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: mac_truck

“Ah, ye SUCKERS!”


3 posted on 06/24/2015 8:21:13 AM PDT by Steely Tom (Vote GOP: A Slower Handbasket)
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To: mac_truck

Just a minor oversight...I am sure Boehner and company is on it...


4 posted on 06/24/2015 8:25:34 AM PDT by databoss
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To: BenLurkin

“Fedguv to old Americans: “Just die, already.””

Yep - very true.

And one of the LIV TV personalities, either Whoopi Goldberg or Oprah said on air that the ‘old white folks should just die’. I think that was Whoopi.

‘Course that’s not racist or mean spirited or anything.


5 posted on 06/24/2015 8:31:27 AM PDT by Paulie (America without Christianity is like a Chemistry book without the periodic table.)
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To: mac_truck

This sounds like the type of hospital “policy” that Michelle Obama would have promoted in her Chicago gig—screw the patients and maximize net money to the hospital.


6 posted on 06/24/2015 8:32:02 AM PDT by House Atreides (CRUZ or lose!)
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To: mac_truck

Been there, done that.


7 posted on 06/24/2015 8:37:13 AM PDT by rhubarbk (Crush Hillary in 2016)
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To: mac_truck
Those old geezers just ought to shut up and die and let that wasted money and care go to those who deserve it and need it for free. Oh, wait a minute. One of those 'old geezers' is me...
8 posted on 06/24/2015 8:44:00 AM PDT by Gritty (Liberals war with any meaningful forms of diversity conflicting with their worldview -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: House Atreides

Exactly Mrs. RQSR’s response after I read/shouted the article to her.


9 posted on 06/24/2015 8:45:06 AM PDT by rockinqsranch ((Dems, Libs, Socialists, call 'em what you will. They ALL have fairies livin' in their trees.))
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To: BenLurkin
“Fedguv to old Americans: “Just die, already.””

I've known about this “observation” problem since it was put in the rules for Medicare. If one goes into the hospital, one MUST have the doctor treating the case to enter the patient as an “admitted in patient”.

Something else to watch about your meds listed by the doctor on your record at his/her office:
I take a very small dose of Amitriptyline for fibromyalgia. That med in large doses was used for depression at the beginning of it coming onto the market. In later years, it was found the med, in a very small dose, stopped excess electricity going to muscles so it is used for fibro and other neurological problems.

One day after I left the doctor's office, I looked at the sheet I was given for that visit. It listed my meds and the reason for taking them - sure enough, it said I was taking Amitriptyline for depression.

When I got home, I wrote a letter to the doctor to change that. The next time I was there, I asked the doctor WHY they put depression on there. His answer was disgusting: “Oh, they just go down the list of uses for a med, and put the first one they see.”

If I had let “depression” stay on there, and Obama doesn't want to let someone taking antidepressants have a weapon - I would have been cooked right there. If that happened, no way would Obama’s “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives United States Department of Justice” believe me I wasn't taking that for depression.

So, check your doctor's record as to why you are taking each one of your meds.

10 posted on 06/24/2015 8:52:57 AM PDT by Marcella (TED CRUZ Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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To: mac_truck

BFL


11 posted on 06/24/2015 9:09:15 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232 ((VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!))
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To: mac_truck

We know you are sick, but the Medicare bureaucracy has officially classified you as “less than well”.


12 posted on 06/24/2015 9:12:38 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: mac_truck

Our hospital now has many obs beds just for this reason. The gov is determined to part the elderly from their assets.

The gov punishes the hospitals financially for having too many elderly hospital admissions. So the hospitals are motivated.


13 posted on 06/24/2015 9:16:17 AM PDT by Chickensoup (Leftist totalitarian fascism is on the move.)
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To: rhubarbk
Been there, done that.

Were you billed as an out patient or did you insist on being admitted?

14 posted on 06/24/2015 9:17:14 AM PDT by mac_truck (Aide toi et dieu t aidera)
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To: mac_truck

I don’t think that applies to Medicare Advantage. My Mom’s insurance has a 24 hour “observation” outpatient clause. After 24 hours you are formally admitted to the hospital.


15 posted on 06/24/2015 9:22:01 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Chickensoup
The article actually explains why this pattern has developed.
16 posted on 06/24/2015 9:44:19 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: mac_truck

I’m wondering if it’s best to have an on-call arrangement with a lawyer whenever one enters a hospital. Not just to get admitted, but to get out in a way to minimize personal expenses.


17 posted on 06/24/2015 9:45:38 AM PDT by grania
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To: Pride in the USA; Stillwaters
When you are hospitalized, ask whether you have been officially admitted. If you are under observation, try to get your status changed -- especially if the doctor thinks you are in for extensive tests and may need some nursing care. "The best thing you can do is to get your own doctor to go to bat for you," Edelman says.

Good information to have at hand for anyone who is on Medicare.

18 posted on 06/24/2015 9:56:49 AM PDT by lonevoice (Life is short. Make fun of it.)
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To: House Atreides

You are so wrong. The hospital actually makes more money from inpatient status. Medicare sets the rules for inpatient and observation status, and if the hospital guesses wrong, they not only lose the payment for that patient, but can lose a percentage of their medicare payments overall. Medicare is driving this one


19 posted on 06/24/2015 9:59:19 AM PDT by Mom MD
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To: Marcella

Again, it is not up to the admitting physician what your status is. It is up to very strict medicare guidelines. Put the blame where it is due.


20 posted on 06/24/2015 10:00:29 AM PDT by Mom MD
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