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Healthcare mystery shoppers? I can save you the money.

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:51 pm
by kiryan
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57824.html

lol, Obama is going to send mystery shoppers to find out if doctors are turning away new medicare/medicaid patients. Lets think about it... medicare pays less, private pays more. Medicaid billing is bureacratic and they can always come back and take their money back, private insurance is better.

The big question is what will he do once he has this "demonizing" information? Raise medicare reimbursement? LOL yea right. Usher in a new healthcare reform act to address the discrimination in the market place? lol even crazier. They'll use it to demonize and shame doctors into taking patients on whom they lose money and don't want. They'll use it to file lawsuits. They'll adjust "policy" that the executive branch controls to punish doctors who "discriminate". They'll go to the medical boards in each state and use existing verbage to challege doctor's licenses and or advocate to add such language that makes it unethical to turn away patients.

It's going to be grand. I'm reminded of the article on concierge medicine, the doctor said you can't force us to take medicare or to not run country club membership only medicine because we aren't your slaves. Apparently we're going to find out if he was right. Practicing medicine is rapidly becoming the most regulated industry in America. What does regulation do to the cost of your care?

Re: Healthcare mystery shoppers? I can save you the money.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:45 pm
by Kindi
doctors are turning away private health care ppl too, because some private insurers are more restrictive than medicare/medicaid. and they canceled the mystery shoppers program, even tho some economists believe it's an excellent strategy to improve difficult to assess programs. so let's get some praise for the administration listening to criticism!

http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/201 ... s_law.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57975.html

Re: Healthcare mystery shoppers? I can save you the money.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 10:27 pm
by kiryan
Ordinarily I would praise this kind of research...

however, we all know how Obama will use it. It will be used to demonize and villify doctors for "discrimination". If you don't do things the way Obama thinks you should... for the benefit of society as a whole, you are going to be punished. His attitude is a real problem in what was formerly the lland of the free.

Like I said, there is a segment of the medical community... and really of the public health officials who believe that doctors who stay in private practices... or opt for a membership countryclub style practice are essentially taking away healthcare from people who need it... aka discriminating against the poor. THey call it immoral and unethical... They don't want doctors to be able to refuse customers... Realize, this is how activism and future policy starts.

Depending on how the next few years ago and whether America reaffirms the individual's right or trends towards a public interest attitude, we could see doctors losing licenses or being forced to accept all comers to their practices... even the ones they lose money on through a variety of regulatory mechanisms. In places where it finacially doesnt work, they'll increase reimbursements (an existing medicare mechanism mostly used in rural areas where patient volume is not sufficient)... To translate the polciy into practical matters... it is essentially, we'll suck all the profit out of your business with our medicare patients... and if you cant stay in business, we'll at our discretion give you more money (ie we'll determine how much profit you make).

Re: Healthcare mystery shoppers? I can save you the money.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:23 pm
by Kindi
i guess you missed the part where they canceled it. even tho i posted links and everything.

i demand praise for obama canceling this program! demand it!

Re: Healthcare mystery shoppers? I can save you the money.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:33 am
by Teflor Lyorian
Kindi wrote:i guess you missed the part where they canceled it. even tho i posted links and everything.

i demand praise for obama canceling this program! demand it!

Praise for taking back a horrible mistake spurned by anti-American philosophy?

Praise is something that has to be earned.

Re: Healthcare mystery shoppers? I can save you the money.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:17 pm
by kiryan
I'm not so sure I can go as far as to praise him. It was probably a good decision given his personality and the divisiveness of American politics at the moment especially over healthcare. +1 uniting points -2 for suggesting it in the first place for a net of -1 on uniting the country.

like i said, mystery shopper is a good idea... unfortunately it wouldn't be used by him and his allies in a positive way, it would be used to tear down.