Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
House plan for healthcare reform
From what I can see, this looks like a horrible plan for health care reform. I do not understand what our congressmen could be thinking in creating this. All I can figure is they are creating a bill for self serving political gain and really don't care about "fixing" our health care system.
What I see so far is a killer though. Never mind the majority of the problems with a bill that will tax small employers who cannot provide health benefits to their employees killing jobs in a time when unemployment is going through the roof. Never mind a plan that punishes healthy young individuals who chose to go without a health care plan because they never go to a doctor and chose to save their money.
This plan will in effect make it where we all have insurance but nobody has a doctor. It is already difficult to nearly impossible in many areas to find a doctor that accepts government run health care plans like Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare. What this plan does is dramatically increase the number of patients on that plan while cutting the amount that doctors will get paid to see those patients. Nobody will be able to find a doctor.
I already have to limit the number of patients I can see on the government plans. Medicaid for example pays me less for an office visit than I pay in overhead for the same visit. I wind up paying the government to treat these patients. I cannot see more without going out of business.
There is now a shortage of primary care doctors in the United States. This is a plan that will ensure that this problem becomes infinitely worse. You can feel happy that 97% of Americans will have health care insurance. Just ignore the fact that none of them can actually find health care providers.
What I see so far is a killer though. Never mind the majority of the problems with a bill that will tax small employers who cannot provide health benefits to their employees killing jobs in a time when unemployment is going through the roof. Never mind a plan that punishes healthy young individuals who chose to go without a health care plan because they never go to a doctor and chose to save their money.
This plan will in effect make it where we all have insurance but nobody has a doctor. It is already difficult to nearly impossible in many areas to find a doctor that accepts government run health care plans like Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare. What this plan does is dramatically increase the number of patients on that plan while cutting the amount that doctors will get paid to see those patients. Nobody will be able to find a doctor.
I already have to limit the number of patients I can see on the government plans. Medicaid for example pays me less for an office visit than I pay in overhead for the same visit. I wind up paying the government to treat these patients. I cannot see more without going out of business.
There is now a shortage of primary care doctors in the United States. This is a plan that will ensure that this problem becomes infinitely worse. You can feel happy that 97% of Americans will have health care insurance. Just ignore the fact that none of them can actually find health care providers.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Obama's plan to fund Obamacare
One of our President's most common and repeated proposals is to fund Obamacare by taxing "the rich". He wants to end tax deductions for charity contributions for those "rich" people.
Mr. President, How much medical care for our needy and unfortunate citizens is directly paid for by those donations? How does choking off the source of revenue for great institutions from learning and teaching hospitals to community hospitals to great institutions like the Shriners' Hospitals benefit the medical care of our citizens?
Rethink your folly Mr. President and stop this lunacy of taxing charity. Find another way to fund your schemes or scale them back to manageable levels.
Mr. President, How much medical care for our needy and unfortunate citizens is directly paid for by those donations? How does choking off the source of revenue for great institutions from learning and teaching hospitals to community hospitals to great institutions like the Shriners' Hospitals benefit the medical care of our citizens?
Rethink your folly Mr. President and stop this lunacy of taxing charity. Find another way to fund your schemes or scale them back to manageable levels.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Cell Phone Elbow
The following article interested me because I'm starting to see this pretty frequently. It's like when computers became more common and more used in the 90s we started seeing a lot of carpal tunnel. Now that everyone has got their ear glued to a cell phone all day we're seeing cubital tunnel syndrome.
Solution, get off the phone. If you can't do that get one of those blue tooth things and walk around looking like a Borg all day.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/cell.phone.elbow/index.html
Solution, get off the phone. If you can't do that get one of those blue tooth things and walk around looking like a Borg all day.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/cell.phone.elbow/index.html
Thursday, May 28, 2009
health care reform
I have a ton of thoughts on this subject, but not enough time to really get into it in depth. So I am going to touch on little details as they strike my fancy.
I read Ted Kennedy's thoughts on Health Care Reform today. This is very worrisome for me. I agree we need to work on the system, but our current administrations plans to rush and bully reform through Congress without adequate research or planning. This makes me very concerned about the future of health care in this country.
Teddy's 2nd point in his plan to reduce cost was to reduce waste in government spending. First he wants to educate doctors in how to treat patients correctly. This does not mean better medical care, people! This is simply government speak for cost shaving and cost containment. This means if your treatment for your disease is too expensive, even if it is your best chance for help, you will be denied coverage. Remember the outcry when HMOs tried this in the 90's? Of course not. Nobody learns from the past. Well, look at what happened then, and think of that travesty occurring as the result of Federal law. Now how much do you support this plan?
Teddy says the government will no longer pay for medical mistakes. Sounds great. Doc screws up, why should he get paid? But the problem is the definition of medical mistakes. The government currently has plans to refuse payments for any patient readmitted to the hospital within a month of going home from the hospital. If they get readmitted, there must have been something messed up, right?
WRONG. I readmitted 2 patients this week. They both were over 75 with chronic medical problems and new problems had popped up. They were fine when they went home, but belonged in the hospital within a few days of going home.
Now imagine a system where the government is already putting great pressure on doctors to discharge patients from the hospital as soon as possible. Add to that a plan where the government refuses to pay if they have to go back into the hospital. Add to that our current system where the local hospitals are losing money from lack of payment for government insured patients.
If your grandmother under this system has multiple medical problems and has been in the hospital recently, do you think the hospital administrators are going to allow her to be readmitted within a month for any problem, even if she needs it? How many of the most sick people in this country are going to be denied medical care because of this plan to cut costs.
I am scared when our government relies on bean counters and attorneys to formulate health care plans. Don't trust them. Don't support them. Speak out to your Representative and hope they actually care about representing you.
I read Ted Kennedy's thoughts on Health Care Reform today. This is very worrisome for me. I agree we need to work on the system, but our current administrations plans to rush and bully reform through Congress without adequate research or planning. This makes me very concerned about the future of health care in this country.
Teddy's 2nd point in his plan to reduce cost was to reduce waste in government spending. First he wants to educate doctors in how to treat patients correctly. This does not mean better medical care, people! This is simply government speak for cost shaving and cost containment. This means if your treatment for your disease is too expensive, even if it is your best chance for help, you will be denied coverage. Remember the outcry when HMOs tried this in the 90's? Of course not. Nobody learns from the past. Well, look at what happened then, and think of that travesty occurring as the result of Federal law. Now how much do you support this plan?
Teddy says the government will no longer pay for medical mistakes. Sounds great. Doc screws up, why should he get paid? But the problem is the definition of medical mistakes. The government currently has plans to refuse payments for any patient readmitted to the hospital within a month of going home from the hospital. If they get readmitted, there must have been something messed up, right?
WRONG. I readmitted 2 patients this week. They both were over 75 with chronic medical problems and new problems had popped up. They were fine when they went home, but belonged in the hospital within a few days of going home.
Now imagine a system where the government is already putting great pressure on doctors to discharge patients from the hospital as soon as possible. Add to that a plan where the government refuses to pay if they have to go back into the hospital. Add to that our current system where the local hospitals are losing money from lack of payment for government insured patients.
If your grandmother under this system has multiple medical problems and has been in the hospital recently, do you think the hospital administrators are going to allow her to be readmitted within a month for any problem, even if she needs it? How many of the most sick people in this country are going to be denied medical care because of this plan to cut costs.
I am scared when our government relies on bean counters and attorneys to formulate health care plans. Don't trust them. Don't support them. Speak out to your Representative and hope they actually care about representing you.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Swine Flu
Today the CDC confirmed what I posted last week. The Swine flu is spreading at a vigorous rate, typical of a flu epidemic. The reported cases are only the tip of the iceberg. It is likely in every state and moving around the world especially to the southern hemisphere where they are entering their normal flu season.
It is a typical flu in all respects and those that need to take precautions are those who need to take precautions in cold and flu season every year. But the general public does not need to be overly fearful at this time.
It is a typical flu in all respects and those that need to take precautions are those who need to take precautions in cold and flu season every year. But the general public does not need to be overly fearful at this time.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
quick post
Just a bit of advice. If you're afraid of Hini flu, don't wear a mask. They just make you look silly. They don't work unless you have a respirator and even they may not do anything. Instead, just use hand sanitizer, stay 6 feet from sick people and wash your hands.
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