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Hospitals will still have a 'free rider' problem under Obamacare
The Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential ^ | December 9, 2013 | Philip Klein

Posted on 12/11/2013 5:11:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

President Obama and his allies have consistently argued that his health care law was prudent, because without it, uninsured individuals would continue to show up at hospitals and receive care without paying, thus driving up costs on everybody else.

But now, the Wall Street Journal has reported, hospitals are concerned that the law could exacerbate this problem, known as uncompensated care.

The reason stems from the high deductibles in health care plans offered on Obamacare's new government-run exchanges. A deductible is the amount that individuals must pay for care before the benefits of a health insurance policy kick in.

As both the Journal and the New York Times reported on Monday, consumers may be surprised to find out how high the deductibles are on many of the plans offered on the new exchanges.

For instance, the Journal article noted that the average individual deductible for the exchanges' lower-cost bronze plans is $5,081 per year, or 42 percent more than the average deductible on the individual market in 2013, before Obamacare went into effect....

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: 0carenightmare; abolishobamacare; hospitals; lawlessnation; medicine; obama; obamacare; obamacaredeductibles; obamacarehospitals; obamalies
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1 posted on 12/11/2013 5:11:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

we are going to end up with fewer people insured


2 posted on 12/11/2013 5:14:17 PM PST by GeronL (Extra Large Cheesy Over-Stuffed Hobbit)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Have you ever gone to the emergency room and taken a good look at the other people, sitting around you? Most of those people are on Medicaid, already, but the doctors who treat Medicaid patients don’t work week-ends and aren’t so willing to squeeze in a Medicaid patient during the week for the flu.

The last time that I was there, the girl in the next room was a heroin addict who was six months pregnant and was having a mis-carriage. She was a Medicaid patient, but couldn’t remember the last time that she had seen a doctor.

Medicaid recipients often find the emergency room more convenient than regular doctor appointments.


3 posted on 12/11/2013 5:18:58 PM PST by Eva
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Did they not think of this shyte BEFORE the midnite passage?


4 posted on 12/11/2013 5:22:13 PM PST by A_Former_Democrat (Obamacare: We told you so)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

If you can’t afford the deductible, most hospitals will have to eat the overhead.

Worsening their revenue hemorrhage. And I don’t think Uncle Sam is going to be making up the difference.


5 posted on 12/11/2013 5:23:58 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Wow! Did not see that coming... /s


6 posted on 12/11/2013 5:24:18 PM PST by Kandy Atz ("Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want for bread.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
the Journal article noted that the average individual deductible for the exchanges' lower-cost bronze plans is $5,081 per year, or 42 percent more than the average deductible on the individual market in 2013

The plan was nonsensical from the beginning. We have a bunch of halfwits in Washington thinking they and only they are capable of thinking.

(Well, they won their election didn't they? They must be smarter than anyone else.)

7 posted on 12/11/2013 5:24:31 PM PST by oldbrowser ("From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs" .....Marx)
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To: Eva

“Medicaid recipients often find the emergency room more convenient than regular doctor appointments.

++

This has been going on for many years.

.


8 posted on 12/11/2013 5:28:17 PM PST by Mears
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To: Eva
don't dump all medicaid patients with the ones you see at the ER....medicaid just means you're poor, not that you're automacitally a drug addict...

but from exp, many poor, drugged and drunk people come to the ER because they're sick from the drugs, they get recurrent horrible MRSA infections from all their injection sites, and you have many who come in just for pain meds, or they want a few days with their feet up and people waiting on them....what's not to like..free food, clean sheets, pain meds, and a bunch of people at your beck and call...

9 posted on 12/11/2013 5:28:46 PM PST by cherry (.in the time of universal deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary.....)
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To: goldstategop

hospitals and drs have been “eating” it for a long time....you think Medicare patients pay their fair share?.....hardly.....and they come in in droves for a cough, a back ache, or constipation...


10 posted on 12/11/2013 5:30:35 PM PST by cherry (.in the time of universal deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary.....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Plus the free riders will feel good about not paying their own way because their president has told them that it’s only right that everyone has affordable health care. Free is just right!!”!”


11 posted on 12/11/2013 5:42:41 PM PST by Recompennation (Constitutional protection for all not just selectively for Democrats.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Great point.

Its so stupid

Imagine Auto insurance liability having a deductible, and a high one at that.


12 posted on 12/11/2013 5:46:03 PM PST by sickoflibs (Obama : 'If you like your Doctor you can keep him, PERIOD! Don't believe the GOPs warnings')
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This is going to hit the middle class with the highest cost increase in history. And they will know who brought it to them.


13 posted on 12/11/2013 5:50:27 PM PST by umgud (2A can't survive dem majorities)
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To: goldstategop
Hospitals seem to be doing quite well of late. Even in California the hospitals are adding gleaming new wings.

Where the money is coming from is anyone's guess.

Maybe we already have a two-tiered system where gold plated medical insurance paying for private rooms with huge flat screen TV's, etc. is being used to pay for bandaids, sutures, and Tylenol for the peons that show up in the ER.

14 posted on 12/11/2013 5:50:38 PM PST by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

So even if someone has purchased an obamacare policy, people will still show up at the ER and claim NOT to have insurance because they can’t afford to pay any part of the bill because of the high deductible. Got it! But you know what? I doubt anyone falling for this scheme of obozo’s could even figure out what the deductible means....


15 posted on 12/11/2013 5:53:46 PM PST by Thank You Rush
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To: GeronL

What happens next year if a person has no health insurance and they get sick, and then they go to the hospital. Will they still receive care?
What if they also have no money? Will they still receive care?


16 posted on 12/11/2013 5:54:53 PM PST by rawhide
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To: rawhide

yes but it the doctor/hospital will probably be stuck with the cost

should be interesting


17 posted on 12/11/2013 6:01:43 PM PST by GeronL (Extra Large Cheesy Over-Stuffed Hobbit)
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To: rawhide

An RN at the largest regional hospital in the area told us that it is a big mess, but they are just going to continue providing healthcare and hope they get paid something.


18 posted on 12/11/2013 6:06:57 PM PST by reformedliberal
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To: GeronL

We’re going to end up with dead people in the emergency room parking lots.


19 posted on 12/11/2013 6:14:01 PM PST by VerySadAmerican (".....Barrack, and the horse Mohammed rode in on.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What really frosts me is how the system seems to be gaming against those of us who do pay. You have to be referred for even routine tests. Your primary care physician has suddenly become much more important. Referrals in reverse to him occurr for even the most mundane things. This is from serious business treatment visits where you would think they would still be looking out for you. Not. Lost work time more trip costs makes you just want to stop participating.

Generating more money in the health care system ... a screwed up flawed plan.


20 posted on 12/11/2013 6:57:47 PM PST by Recompennation (Constitutional protection for all not just selectively for Democrats.)
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