Posted on 11/15/2012 4:48:01 PM PST by Nachum
Three years ago, Dr. Keith Smith, co-founder and managing partner of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, took an initiative that would only be considered radical in the health care industry: He posted online a list of prices for 112 common surgical procedures. The 51-year-old Smith, a self-described libertarian, and his business partner, Dr. Steve Lantier, founded the Surgery Center 15 years ago, after they became disillusioned with the way patients were treated at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, where the two men worked as anesthesiologists. In 1997, Smith and Lantier bought the shell of a former surgical center with the aim of creating a for-profit facility that could deliver first-rate care at a fraction of what traditional hospitals charge.
The major cause of exploding U.S. heath care costs is the third-party payer system, a text-book concept in which A buys goods or services from B that are paid for by C. Because private insurance companies or the government generally pick up most of the tab for medical services, patients don't have the normal incentive to seek out value.
The Surgery Center's consumer-driven model could become increasingly common as Americans look for alternatives to the traditional health care market—an unintended consequence of Obamacare. Patients may have no choice but to look outside the traditional health care industry in the face of higher costs and reduced access to doctors and hospitals.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
If this works, I assume Obama will ban the arrangement immediately. He doesn’t want socialism to face competition.
Yup, and that's why the liberals ultimately want to outlaw all such undertakings. You must submit to a government healthcare plan. None others are allowed. All healthcare must be controlled and rationed by the government to ensure the poor get their fair share of their constitutional right to equal healthcare. It's right there in the constitution (in the hidden ink).
The future of medical field looks very slim. The poor have never been without medical attention. In fact they abuse the system with insane trips to emergency rooms for sniffles and calling ambulance for a ride to pick up medication. This will get worse since it’s free to them. Then again it always has been. People in this country rarely die of uncommon diseases or go without treatment for things like cancer.
However that may change with the death panels and the coming shortage of doctors.
It’s worse then that now. In the ER they want a meal, free medication, and a cab ride home. And the Hospital bends over and does it...
As a home health nurse I can tell you that I can tell whether any given patient is on private insurance or medicaid just by looking at their med list, the medicaid patients have med lists a mile long and they treat you like they are doing you a favor allowing you to provide their healthcare.
Same thing applies with minor procedures in offices and free-standing imaging centers. The prices are one third to one quarter of the hospital cash price. The hospital culture slavishly promotes the regulatory regime and uses regulation and the regulators to kill their competition. That’s why so many of these corporatist administrators are so excited about 0-care, ACOs and the exchanges.
They will close their doors. I had a seatmate on my Detroit to San Antonio leg 2 summers ago. He has a private clinic - a big one - in San Antonio.
He said if obabmcre goes into effect, he will close it.
Obmama care will add up to 30 million more to the rolls, provides for 16,000 new IRS agents - armed - to oversee compliance but not one new doctor. At the same time, some 40,000 doctors have expressed the intention to retire rather than deal with obamacare.
Do the math.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obamacare-ends-construction-doctor-owned-hospitals_525950.html
“Same thing applies with minor procedures in offices and free-standing imaging centers. The prices are one third to one quarter of the hospital cash price.”
That is probably about right. I don’t know what the collection rate at the hospitals is, but I do know that emergency ambulance collection rates are about 1/3 if you are lucky.
So you have to pay for your treatment/ride and for 2 or three who just throw the bill in the trash.
Apparently the freestanding places do not treat you unless you pay. What a novel concept.
We’ve been looking into the area of concierge doctors. I expect they’ll be outlawed by Hussein, or have to go underground.
nobamacare=stay healthy or die. Good luck everyone.
Aaaaannnnd....Glenn Beck reported Thursday morning that UN “Project 21” is now being implemented in Britain. As of just the last few days, as I understand it, hospitals, etc. in Britain have begun witholding meds, nourishment and water from elderly patients and just letting them expire; in what would probably be a long miserable death process. This is reportedly being done arbitrarily, without any concurrence by family, etc.
Something similar to this is now being practiced in the U.S. in the case of babies that survive an abortion. They are denied sustenance and protection of any kind and are dumped naked in a utility room or similar location and left until they expire.
If God doesn’t pour out His judgement on the likes of that, He’s going to have to bring back Sodom and Gomorrah and apologize for wiping THEM out!
People poke fun at me because I take a number of vitamins and food supplements every day; but I’m healthier now than I was 10 years ago, and plan to stay that way until Christ comes back in The Rapture of The Church.
Later
You are right, and the law, I believe forbids MD’s from owning more than 1% interest. I read recently where a major newspaper corp was diversifying by buying into nursing home and home health aide services. Imagine the likes of NYTimes trying to make a profit by taking care of Granny!
With all of the text from Reason. If you don't post it, then I will.
You might be long gone before the Rapture. The condition of the world now is not nearly as bad as some times in history. Could you imagine the Romans time, Vikings, early industrial times, WW1, WW2, Civil war of the US, etc. I am sure everyone was wishing for Rapture back then to. Good luck.
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