Is your doctor paid to keep you healthy? Probably not.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 06/17/2006 | Mary Jo Feldstein

[newgeezer]

Georgia Lewis' feet were so swollen with fluid that she wore sandals throughout the winter. Lewis, a diabetic who lives in Bellefontaine Neighbors, was giving herself five insulin shots a day but still couldn't regulate her blood sugar.

Years after being diagnosed with diabetes, Lewis, 61, had never learned how to manage her disease or shield herself from its most debilitating effects.

Under the traditional Medicare system, it wasn't in her doctors' financial interest to teach her.

But now, as part of a expanding Medicare program that could transform how the nation cares for its elderly, Lewis' doctors will be responsible for the cost if her health problems turn into expensive complications.

Typically, physicians get paid only when their patients receive care, and more complex care often brings bigger paychecks. At the same time, doctors complain that paltry payments for office visits force them to rush through checkups instead of educating patients about their illnesses, medications and healthy living - all of which might lower future medical bills.

It's a system that gives doctors little financial incentive to keep patients well. And, experts say, it might be contributing to dangerous, unnecessary care as well as high medical bills.

...

Medicare, the government program that provides health care to 42 million older Americans, is experimenting with paying private insurers a per person rate. It's similar to how health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, work. Under this program, called Medicare Advantage, the fee is used to cover the patient's medical expenses, and the insurer keeps the rest. The hope is that the plans will encourage better management of illness to avoid expensive flare-ups.

...

In Lewis' case, the private insurer...was created by a group of St. Louis-area physicians. In theory, the healthier Lewis stays, the bigger the profits for her doctor. ...

[Vectorian]

Thanks, newgeezer.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Doctors only treat symptoms. They give you a drug to treat one symptom. Then that drug creates side effects that will demand a new drug to treat and it goes on and on.

[Vectorian]

Thanks for that JoeSixPack1.

So MediCARE and MedicAID together are similar to the national health service, except that the taxpayers money is paid to what we call private doctors and medical practices rather than directly funding hospitals and doctors?

Does either system cover abortion?

[netmilsmom]

>>The doctors know this when they sign up and contract with medicaid, but we have some numbskull doctors and this perpetual cylce keeps on going.<<

Well, that sounds really good but I worked for a Psych in Cleveland who signed the contract with Medicaid because he needed his expenses covered just to drive down to the Charity hospital.
He knew that an in-patient visit was only going to pay 32.00 on his regular 80.00 fee.
For this work, he had to pay more in malpractice insurance, more for car insurance and buy a gun. (really bad neighborhood)

Medicaid delayed or turned down EVERY claim. SO while he was doing the job that no other psych on the westside of Cleveland would do, the administrative costs in reports sent and refiles ate away every cent of what he made. It was volunteer work.

This "numbskull" doctor wanted to give back to the community. He saw Adult special needs patients when no one else would and continued to see any patient who came into that emergency room at the charity hospital eventhough he was not required to by law, just give a referal. In the end, our office was going broke on these patients. I wrote up a report about how much money we were losing on Medicaid and in the end he dropped everyone but the Special needs.

Perhaps the other side of the coin is needed here.

[Wolfie]

That's why I go to Tor Eckman, holistic healer. I'm off hot water, too.

[JoeSixPack1]

In answer to your first question, "Yes. Basically"

I don't have an snswer for the second question. But this is the USA, so ... probably.

[ziggy_dlo]

and you will notice the other ise of the coin that I posted on post 16 yes we have that problem to. They always call to whine about how medicaid will not pay for some insulin strips and they cry because the doctor did not want to see them. It is the clients responsibilty to take care of their health when possible, but when you have client's taking their children to the hosital or the doctor because my head hurts (take some aspirin) my nose is stuffy (get some decongestants) my nose is running (get some dimetapp and some kleenex and wipe your nose). It is pitiful. What I see when someone calls me and says that that they do not have 3 dollars to get some antibiotics but you can hear tyhem in the background ordering a big mac and fries from Mcdonalds. Or one person told me "I am tired of my kids. Does medicaid pay for me to go on a vacation and to send my kids to the ymca while I am gone?" Go figure!

there are good doctors and there are ones who just dont give a damn. there are two sides two the equation, and you are right, two sides of the coin. When the claims come through here, if there is just simple thing wrong like: doctor did not provide his signature, or the client did not get a referral from their PCP, any number of things can halt a claim from being paid. I think able bodies people should get ff their arses and get to work and stop having their hands out for gov't assistance. IMHO PCP=primary care physician

[pabianice]

I'm buying stock in this company. Right away in their description there is a false statement about 'positive and negative ions' ... ions are only negative. There is no such thing as a positive ion.

No. You are incorrect. An ion is an atom, group of atoms, or subatomic particle with a net electric charge. The simplest ions are the electron (single negative charge, e−), proton (a hydrogen ion, H+, positive charge), and alpha particle (helium ion, He2+, consisting of two protons and two neutrons) . A negatively charged ion, which has more electrons in its electron shells than it has protons in its nuclei, is known as an anion, for it is attracted to anodes; a positively-charged ion, which has fewer electrons than protons, is known as a cation (pronounced cat-eye-on), for it is attracted to cathodes. An ion with a single atom is called a monatomic ion, and an ion with more than one is called a polyatomic ion. Larger ions containing many atoms are called molecular ions. The process of converting into ions and the state of being ionized is called ionization. The recombining of ions and electrons to form neutral atoms is called recombination. A polyatomic anion that contains oxygen is sometimes known as an oxyanion.