Obamacare Starts

[Mr Roxy]

Starting Monday, Medicare will start fining hospitals that have too many patients readmitted within 30 days due to complications.One of the main reasons for this is to save money or pay back the $700 million he took. We already know that already piss poor reimbursements to doctors will be reduced further to also make up for it. Doctors will either stop practicing or will refuse new medicare patients. The 3 criteria are heart attacks, heart failure & pneumonia. If it was such a great law, why did it only pass the vote with 7 votes & not the vast majority our fearless leader wants people to believe. Take into account 34 democrats voted against it & one of the many deals cut to save it was Pelosi's last minute deal to Rep Bart Stupak and a group of pro life democrats (an oxymoron) which was not worth the paper it was written on.Many waivers were issued (many to Obama supporters) and granted. If it was such a great law, why were waivers requested? Add to that backroom deals with drug companies. Imagine if the GOP did this.

Great start for the new law

[Kad]

"pro life democrats (an oxymoron)"

Like "compassionate conservative".

Or "pro lifers" who are pro-death penalty and war hawks.

[romantico]

[romantico]

[ErikJ972]

Roxy exaggerates but he's right about one thing. Obamacare is a nightmare for non-profit hospitals.
I work for the only non-profit hospital left in Hudson county. Virtually all the charity care cases get sent there. Because of the type of patient they are dealing with readmission rates tend te be high. Especially compared to the private hospitals in the county.
Under the new Obamacare guidelines this hospital, who deals with the neediest people in the community, is set to lose millions in funding.

[SNAFU]

Erick, it is not perfect yet. though It is a start. As it get's implemented Obamacare will change. I know now that my 80 year old mother (who was a stanch Obamacare hater at first) has turned around when she discovered her out of pocket for perscriptions declined and that now she can find suplimental insurance to help her medicare without the spectre of pre existing conditions.

[JoeKv99]

I had this argument with a conservative just last week- they hold this up as EVIDENCE that Obamacare is awful-- but REALLY what this is evidence of is that Hospitals NEED to be held accountable- and that they do sometimes discharge a patient (especially a medicare patient) before they are really ready to go home- in hopes of getting a higher-paying patient. The "readmission" rates show that they should not have been discharged.

[strummergirl]

My own uncle, who voted for McCain, admitted, as an internist physician, that Obamacare was good for doctors. The idea that doctors are going to stop practicing is ridiculous. Do you have any idea how much money they make?

[spiderdj82]

I work in a Doctor's office and I can tell you first hand that some of these guys/gals send asymptomatic patients to have tests JUST so they can boost revenue. Unfortunately, Doctor's like this have turned everything sour and insurances are buckling down and refusing payment more and more (even to the people that need it). Our healthcare system is screwed to hell and we need something. Is "Obamacare" perfect? No. I don't agree with the fact that people will get fined if they refuse not to accept it, but it's in it's infancy. Hopefully it will get better and more refined as time goes on.

[spiderdj82]

Oh and the whole idea of "they will quit practicing" is a bunch of bull. They did not go to school for so long and rack up all that loan money to quit so easily. A few of them won't be happy about some of the changes, but they are not going to give up their paychecks. Healthcare has always been an ever-changing monster and if Doctor's are going to give up so easily....then they shouldn't be practicing in the first place.

[SNAFU]

Shhhhhh! You are upsetting Roxy's World View!

[ErikJ972]

Of course there needs to be oversight and accountability. But health care, like education, is not a cookie cutter business. Non-profit hospitals in impoverished areas face different challenges than other hospitals. Many of the patients they see only receive care at the hospital. There's no preventative care, no primary physician, and often no follow up after they are discharged. Some of the population they serve are homeless or transient. These hospitals shouldn't be punished financially because of the patients they serve. Patients that other hospitals are refusing.
And while it may be true that doctors are not quitting practicing because of Obamacare. But they are fleeing from non profit hospitals...in droves.

[FindingNamo]

Roxy's right. Given how few physicians there are in the US (snort!), we're all going to feel the loss if a few plastic surgeons throw a hissy fit and shut down their practices. We might as well kiss trout mouths goodbye.