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| Economy |
| Hawai'i Swims Against the |
| 2011-04-08 |
 Gov. I-Never-Had-A-Real-Job is paying back his debt to HGEA.On the other hand, it's only fair since Hawai'i is a wholely-owned subsidiary of HGEA. OK, I'm a little grumpy this am, since I got a dinnertime robo-call yesterday from Lazy Mazie Hirono, the local Dem hack, inviting me to a meeting where she'd explain how the GOP were trying to destroy Medicare. |
| Posted by:Mercutio |
| #10 AH__ I've worked in hospitals since the early '80s. Docs havebeen leaving both Medicare and Medicaid that entire time. Not only are the reimbursements now less than cost, but the Catch-22 paperwork is also a part of it. HCFA Regulations are so complex and the requirement for dotting i's and crossing t's are so onerous that the paperwork alone drives some docs out of the programs. Then when a doc makes a mistake on one of the thousands of pages of reimbursement regulations, s/he is charged with Medicare or Medicaid "fraud" and subject to civil, criminal and financial penalties. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2011-04-08 22:58 |
| #9 Citation? Anecdotal only, Anguper Hupomosing9418. But the thing is, I keep on reading such stories, from all over the country. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-04-08 22:40 |
| #8 Then again since this regime doesn't have any need for the Constitution, don't be surprised they skip the 'involuntary servitude' thingy for docs. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-04-08 20:57 |
| #7 No 5, AH; My GP just severed all business contact with Medicare. The reimbursement rates aren't great but the deal breaker for him is the new regulations w/r to billing errors. Even a small error can bring penalties up to 1.2 million and they have Contractors specifically auditing for that small error. A single penalty can bankrupt a small practice and business insurance will not cover the penalty. Considering the complexity of the billing system it's not worth the risk and since he is a good Doctor with a decent practice he can make his nickle without Medicare. He need not risk his practice. He is worth my paying cash for his services. |
| Posted by: tipover 2011-04-08 20:43 |
| #6 No offense intended but currently low income types or Medicaid patients are being seen by a "rent-a- Doc" state program. So state funding would help the financial aspect. I would assume the Physician would be contracted and perhaps gain financial assistance help with student loans plus acquire continuing education credit and of course experience. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-04-08 19:08 |
| #5 Doctors keep leaving Medicare/Medicaid because the reimbursements are too low. Eventually the program will be on paper only. Citation? Docs who aren't super-specialists generally can't afford to rule out treating a huge chunk of the total population. The most significant development would be doctors leaving medical practice altogether because reimbursements are too low. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-04-08 18:51 |
| #4 "Doctors keep leaving Medicare/Medicaid because the reimbursements are too low. Eventually the program will be on paper only." So old people die and the gummint A win-win for the Bambi crowd. It's almost like they planned it this way. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-04-08 17:27 |
| #3 Well what gripes my cookies is the Donks took $450B out of Medicare and now they're trying to say the GOP asking for buget reductions is killing it. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2011-04-08 17:25 |
| #2 Doctors keep leaving Medicare/Medicaid because the reimbursements are too low. Eventually the program will be on paper only. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-04-08 16:55 |
| #1 Mercutio, Can you please explain to Lazy Mazie that Medicare needs to be destroyed? Thanks |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-04-08 16:28 |