Posted on 11/01/2013 4:14:32 AM PDT by sheikdetailfeather
Most of the talk about the Affordable Care Act has focused on website glitches and skyrocketing premiums but there are other issues looming on the horizon for the healthcare overhaul. Hospital coverage.
If consumers expect to have (or continue to have) access to the best medical services at the nations top hospitals, they are in for a rude awakening. "Most of the top hospitals will accept insurance from just one or two companies operating under Obamacare."
Because the ACA caps premiums, insurers will be have to offer less money to the nations best doctors and hospitals. In return, the hospitals will simply refuse to accept those insurance plans.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
IT makes sense. If I have a high deductible, let’s say $8000, I will utilize the hospital until I reach that deductible, then really utilize it. I will pay the bare minimum on what I owe, maybe even fail to pay. Hospitals are already seeing this ploy. IF a person has insurance you can’t deny them care.
Hospitals will be writing off charges by the millions.
The republicans betteSTFU and let this thing swing and not let it be any less painful until the elections.
I wonder what will happen in small towns where there is just one hospital?
The Regime will FORCE them to take Obmacare.
Small towns have small hospitals. They’ll probably shut down. Then, those people will have to drive 1-2 hours or more to a hospital.
This is why some hospitals/doctors are demanding the full deductible up front before they will do anything. Read about a guy who needed an operation .... was given a $20K bill to be paid before the surgery. He told his doc he's have to cancel, did not have the money. The doctor worked something out, using some sort of loophole in the insurance that let him go out of plan and the amount due up front was $3K.
Fellow writing in the comments said his family will be uninsured this year since the Obamacare rates are a $633 monthly increase over his cancelled policy with no subsidy and 15+% of his GROSS income. I think many families will do the same .... they'll still go to the doc but pay cash, watch their bills, negotiate, etc. Except for the catastrophic events, this will be a 'good' thing ... puts people (and their docs, not gov't) back in control of their healthcare and makes them engaged consumers of healthcare services.
Hospitals will morph their identities and services outside of government mandated regulatory authority. Pay for service.
“Where my free helfcare at?”
A la, Coach Jim Mora: "Preventive healthcare? Preventive healthcare? Are you serious? Ain't nobody talkin' 'bout preventive healfcare!"
"Charge it to Obama, man!"
I will pay the bare minimum on what I owe, maybe even fail to pay.
_________________
If you fail to pay you will go bankrupt. If you own anything it will be taken.
This is the most massive asset transfer ever.
they will have to do 0’care or stop operating, they are usually public hospitals. Private hospitals are also adopting 0’care and one size fits all for patients, and as a bonus you get Mooch’s health kids meal plan.
Obama will call them out as a few bad apples...
Obama will fix this by mandating all hospitals accept his insurance.
Then the hospital will just close.
That’s why the hospitals/docs are asking for the very large patient responsibility deductibles up front ..... they realize they may not get paid if they don’t. It’s one thing to cough up $2,500 or so, but $6-8K or more is another matter.
Hospitals can not deny ANYONE (insured, uninsured, rich, broke, citizen, illegal alien, nobody) life saving care. This BS about people dieing for want of life saving care gets on my nerves. One of the reasons I haven't had a proper raise in 7 years is because the hospital I work for gives away about $110M worth of uncompensated care a year.
Read an article yesterday about that. The only hospital withinn 25 miles doesn’t accept ANY exchange companies.
My rural hospital was taken over years ago by the nearest major medical center that is 45 miles away. Only 6 in-patient beds. Everyone else is taken to the major hospital.
They bought out all the private practices, too. 4-6 clinics within the hospital, now. Maybe 20 docs, some specialists, one a world-renowned orthopod. Mobile CAT scans and MRIs and visiting specialists are available on a weekly basis. They have a good cardiac recuperative department, a therapy pool and tons of wellness options.
The smallest clinics within 50 miles of the big institution are all now satellites. The clinicians stay here for quality of life issues. When one retires or leaves, the large major medical institution just sends in another one.
So far, the foreign MDs and some of the US MDs have turned out to be bad hires and have been fired due to either egregious behavior, high morbidity and/or patient complaints.
People already do drive an hour for continuing treatment in some areas. Trauma victims are routinely taken there via ambulance or Life Lift. Prolonged hospitalization is always transferred,out of necessity. A lot of RNs/LPNs were transferred, as well, except for ER and clinic nurses.
Staff are really pressured to not discuss hospital issues. It takes months, sometimes, to find out anything at all, unless you know a connected individual who no longer is on staff and is willing to talk.
This is true.
I really fail to see how the federal gov’t under even the best circumstance will be able to administer health care insurance to all Americans fairly and efficiently.
Second, no one talks about the what the free market does for research and ingenuity. If we get to a one payer system where there is no real difference in reimbursements for care, then why should a top heart surgeon op into the program if they are taking a pay cut.
What will happen to pharmaceuticals who pour money into developing drugs if they will not receive adequate reimbursement?
Canadians have a shortage of specialists and surgeons, which is why a lot of their people come down here across the border for care. I assume this is because the government doesn’t pay them enough, or pays primary care doctors too much. Just like with teachers’ unions, if the free market isn’t in control of salaries, the natural incentives for people to move into a profession with workers in low supply do not exist and the shortage stays in place. What makes some Canadians happy about their health care is the idea that “the rich” can’t get better care than anyone else. Socialized medicine works great if your goal is to make “the rich” suffer. It doesn’t work so great if your goal is to produce quality health care.
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