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Posted on 11/24/2012 8:49:23 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Obama won, Obamacare is the law, and, as my wife says, I will just have to learn to dance to a new song.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Obamacare is awful. Forget all the “free stuff” it provides. Children covered on their parents’ plan until 26 years of age? A scam, making young adults — excuse me, children — pay for complete, comprehensive health insurance when all they need and should pay for is major catastrophe insurance. Then there is the “annual ” or “preventative” exam, which according to Obamacare is “free.”
You gotta love this stuff. I wish I had the chutzpah of the people who wrote Obamacare. What they did not tell you, and I am, is that it covers absolutely nothing more than the bare minimum.
I have now posted a notice in my office and each exam room stating exactly what Obamacare will cover for those yearly visits. Remember Obama promised this as a free exam — no co-pay, no deductible, no charge. That’s fine and dandy if you are healthy and have no complaints. However, we are obligated by law to code specifically for the reason of the visit. An annual exam is one specific code; you can not mix this with another code, say, for rectal bleeding. This annual visit covers the exam and “discussion about the status of previously diagnosed stable conditions.” That’s the exact wording under that code — insurance will not cover any new ailment under that code.
If you are here for that annual exam, you will not be covered if you want to discuss any new ailment or unstable condition. I cannot bait and switch to another code — that’s illegal. We, the physicians, are audited all the time and can lose our license for insurance fraud.
You, the patient, will then have to make a decision.
Do you want your “free” yearly exam, or do you want to pay for a visit which is coded for a particular, new problem? You can have my “free” exam if you only discuss what Obamacare wants me to discuss.
This happened to me personally, as a patient, when I went for my physical. It is the law. If you are complaining of a new problem, then you have to reschedule, since Obamacare is very clear as to what is covered and what is not. Obamacare — intentionally — makes it as difficult to be seen and taken care of as possible.
Patients can be very tricky. I have had patients make an “annual” exam, only to want to discuss and be treated for another ailment. I can’t do it.
I can hear the complaints from you guys already — I become the bad guy. “Why don’t you just take care of the problem, and not bill out any different code? You’re a rich doctor, and we are entitled to free stuff.”
It doesn’t work that way. First, doctors are not rich and, like most of you, actually work terribly hard for a living. Second, Obamacare is the law — and as I said earlier, we are audited all the time now.
Also — I don’t ask for free gas when I go to the gas station, or ask for free food from the supermarket. Additionally, Obamacare has a 23% cut in Medicare reimbursement to doctors and hospitals.
These lower payments won’t cover the cost of staying in practice to take care of the patient.
Private doctors are becoming a thing of the past. By 2014, less than 25% of physicians will be in private medicine. Obama was right in stating you can keep your doctor if you want to — the problem is he or she will rarely be available.
On top of all of that, doctors will be obligated — that’s right, obligated — to talk to you about things you may have no interest or need to talk about.
You may just want to have a pap smear or check your cholesterol. However, I am now mandated by the government to talk to you about your weight, exercise, family life, smoking, sexual abuse(!), and even to ask if you wear seat belts. And I am mandated to record your answers.
I am a physician. But I need to tell you to wear a seat belt and then record your answer.
I have received interesting responses from my patients since I put up the notice. Almost all are supportive and totally understand. The very few who complain? The same patients who always ask for free samples, who always complain that we do not validate parking. These are also the same patients who call my office and ask for free samples even when they are not even being seen.
Obamacare and its 2,000-plus pages are here to stay. I will still give my patients 100% of my time, energy, and knowledge. I still love being a doctor — my patients’ doctor. I will, however, abide by the law and follow it to the letter. I will have to learn this new dance. “Free” has its price.
Does anyone in FReerland [sic] know whether or not doctors are mandated to ask patients about their ownership of firearms?
At the VA they ask if you have had and HIV test, and if you own firearms.
My answer is no.
5.56mm
Sounds like you’re looking forward to it.
My kids’ pediatrician has been asking about guns in the house for Years now.
Bump
“... die during your exam how does he code it?”
The same way...as the freebie annual exam. You read the article...the doctor can’t even call 911 to get you transported to the hospital emergency room.
The body has to be wheeled back out to the doc’s waiting room, and then has to wait for the next available “walk-in” appointment that afternoon.
“Mr. Smith? The doctor will see you now.”
“Mr.Smith? Mr. Smith?”
“Sounds like you’re looking forward to it.”
Maybe that’s how it’s coming through. I am not looking forward to it. I’m amazed that people did not stop this thing. It’s so obvious that 2,000 pages of who knows what is something no doctor will sign up for.
What is the sense of a health care plan which has no providers? And we have to pay into it?
They [Doctors] have only themselves to blame.
I believe you have a misguided opinion of your doctor's likely love for Obamacare or his/her ability to have overturned it.
Since I presume you're a conservative voter and conservative voters failed to prevent the reelection of Obama, should I charge you with selling your soul and having only yourself to blame?
My orthos office has been doing this for years. I can only discuss one thing per visit. Last time I went because my bursa had popped out of my elbow. The day of my visit my back was having horrible spasms also, but I was not allowed to talk about it because I was there for my elbow.
Kind of weird having a doctor ignore a patient’s obvious pain.
I never go to my Internist for a yearly checkup. I just wait for a lot of things to build up and go. She usually ends up sending me somewhere else anyway.
Not at all.
BTW, when is the AMA going to come out against abortion and help out?
Obama lied - healthcare died. And, I have a real bitter place in my heart for Judge Roberts. He’ll never have to use this boondoggle of a bill. Like all those in federal government, they exempted themselves while giving us regular Americans affordable healthcare.
Sorry, I’m still having issues with Roberts and the lies from the Democrats that people swallowed, hook, line and sinker. And, yes, I blame Romney for wearing mittens during the general election. He wanted to play nice guy and like most pubies, they fail to recognize the dirty tactics the opposition uses. They think people will not like them, oh waaaaaaaaaaaa.
Likeablity is so overrated. I’m serious about that.
The problem this doctor mentions about how people come in for a physical and then ask about other stuff, makes me question if this was written by a doctor.
I do customer service at a Blue Cross Blue Shield office. In cases like this, most doctors would send in a claim and on the first few lines of service they would list all the preventative services the patient received. The last line of service would be for an office visit. All the preventative services bill out at the covered at 100% rate and thoffice visit is processed according to the terms of the contract.
And I get to be the person who explains it to the irate caller.
This is true and the author should have looked at the bigger picture. Obamacare is not the end game, it's just the means to put private insurance companies out of business and implement single payer. Once single payer is in place, that single payer (the federal bureaucracy) will control all medical care and ultimately run the hospitals. The goal is to socialize a large sector in America's economy as part of the overall goal to socialize the bulk of the economy. There will still be some private enterprise but not in medicine.
I think it was the CDC (Center For Disease Control) who , a few years ago, spent loads of taxpayers money on an anti-gun campaign.
I will likely lie and say no. As far as I know, it is not ‘yet’ against the law to lie to a doctor. I am an honest law abiding citizen, but I refuse to play their game. My gun ownership is none of their business.
Why not just set up a grab bag in the doctor’s lobby to see what you can be treated for today? ;-)
Perhaps he will have two or more taxis meters to start a new appointment every time you change the subject. ;-)
While I'd like to think that at least some of that roomful of Rats did not chalk that up as a primary goal, it is an inevitable consequence of placing a sixth of the nation's economy under a bureaucracy which can never answer needs even close to as well as a market can. I bet Soviet patients often had it easier.
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