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That would be amazing if your 90 year old grandma got a liver transplant. I think the oldest recipient of a liver transplant was 67.
I'm not trying to be specific, you know what I mean. If government thinks age 50 is when breast and cervical cancer exams should start, then once you are 50, you and your doctor can choose to schedule one. It will not be lala land, where Purplelove and his doctor can decide what new and expensive procedures, treatments and drugs they want, and the the government will simply pay for them.
More claims are denied thru Medicare then any private health insurance provider.
Medicare is in the red, and has about $40 trillion in unfunded liabilities, it is a poor example. Any private company that was run as bad as Medicare would have been bankrupt long ago, and its CEO would be wearing irons ankle bracelets.
Ask yourself: Where are Humana, Cigna, Aetna and the like making the most profit these days? It isn't on the commercial side. It is through Government programs like Medicare Advantage that they are subsidized for by the Medicare program. Get Insurance Companies out of Medicare and then they can sing the "private enterprise tune" - but they won't because they are making too much money off of the government.
By: masaccio Tuesday August 4, 2009 1:37 pm
Humana, Inc. (HUM) reported its earnings Monday, and they really love that government money. HUM reports in two segments: government and commercial. The government segment is really profitable: profits up 62.5%, membership up 12%. The increase in profits was the result of the membership increase and the company’s decision last year to charge its Medicare Advantage customers premiums on top of the lovely government subsidy.
Commercial lines didn’t do so well. Pretax earnings were down year over year by 20% in the first half of the year, and enrollment was down in the first half by 5%. This was partly the result of the loss of two large accounts, and partly the general increase in unemployment. It would have been worse but HUM did an acquisition. The much smaller individual policy sector was up 7%. The company has apparently decided to exit the Medicare drug plan. It increased its rates, and saw a huge drop in membership.
We have now seen the second quarter results for five big insurance companies, UnitedHealth, Aetna, Cigna, Wellpoint, and now Humana. All are profitable, all losing customers in their commercial lines, all are trying to raise rates faster than projected increases in medical costs, all are trying to reduce their payout ratios, all are making steady payments to investors, and all are spending money on Congress to destroy any hope of real reform.
Last edited by pollyrobin; 12-23-2009 at 10:59 AM..
Reason: typo
There are plenty of leftists that are most definitely not satisfied with the health racketer,.., er,.. reform
bills (http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/091223_060001wuc.MP3 - broken link).
More claims are denied thru Medicare then any private health insurance provider.
Hey, what's Aetna's problem
According to an article on TheHill.com, Medicare denies more claims than commercial insurers.
“Medicare was the most likely to deny any part of a claim, with a 6.9 percent rate. Aetna was a close second at 6.8 percent while the others ranged from 2.7 percent to 4.6 percent.
Coventry Health had the fastest median turnaround between receiving a claim and responding, at four days, according to the AMA. Medicare and CIGNA took a median 14 days; Humana and Aetna, 13 days; Health Net, 11; United Healthcare, 10 and Anthem, seven.”
Why is this? It could be the case that commercial health insurers have more efficient claims processing centers.
Another reason for the differential claims denial rates is the demographics of Medicare and commercial insurance enrollees. Almost all Medicare enrollees are over 65, while commercial insurers have enrollees who are of varying ages. Since older individuals are more likely to demand high cost medical procedures, if high cost medical procedures are the ones that are more likely to be denied then Medicare’s higher denial rate may simply be due to the composition of its enrollees.
Can we also cut off the $$ they will be receiving under this new health care bill?
Let's also do away with corporate personhood. That would make a HUGE difference.
These are questions we should be putting to "our" elected officials. That is if it is okay with their industry pimps.
Get rid of insurance except for hospitalization and catastrophic illness.
That will fix healthcare. Just look at cosmetic medical services - no insurance coverage and prices remain stable as people have to pay out of pocket.
Wake up people..it's right in front of you. Liposuction and Botox is more affordable to the normal Joe than high blood pressure treatment for pete's sake. What does that tell you ?
I'm not trying to be specific, you know what I mean. If government thinks age 50 is when breast and cervical cancer exams should start, then once you are 50, you and your doctor can choose to schedule one. It will not be lala land, where Purplelove and his doctor can decide what new and expensive procedures, treatments and drugs they want, and the the government will simply pay for them.
Whether your 30, 40, or 50, Women need facts - not trumped up hysteria against health care reform.
Breast MRI. The potentials and dangers: are you informed?
Harms S.
Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX.
Breast MRI is a field that is rapidly emerging. The approaches to breast MRI technology and clinical utilization are highly variable. The viability of any selected technology should be fully understood before it is advocated as a solution for any clinical role. It is my opinion that all breast MR methods currently in use should undergo more clinical trials before they are employed for routine breast diagnosis. Before purchasing special breast imaging hardware, you should be shown proof of clinical capability that includes well controlled clinical trials, not just a pretty picture. The use of MRI for breast diagnosis is far different from other clinical applications. If MRI misses the meniscal tear, the patient will return with continued symptoms and eventually have appropriate treatment. If MRI falsely calls a meniscal tear, then the worst thing that will happen is a diagnostic arthroscopy which would have occurred if the patient had never had the MRI. If breast MRI detects an enhancing mass that cannot be confirmed by biopsy or any other imaging examination, there are two potential disastrous consequences: 1) Overzealous treatment could result in needless and permanent deformity. 2) The results of the MRI positive lesion are ignored and the patient may lose the opportunity for cure in a lesion confined to the breast. Until MRI directed biopsy capability is available, the clinical value of this examination is questionable. MRI may be used for the evaluation of possible free silicone from implant leaks. The ultimate role of MRI in this evaluation compared with sonography is uncertain.
These are questions we should be putting to "our" elected officials. That is if it is okay with their industry pimps.
I contacted my Senators with a long letter about the abuses of Medicare Advantage. What I got back was a standard letter informing me how happy they were that they were able to Continue providing Medicare Advantage Go figure
would all the congress people like to be part of the new so called healthcare reform??? are they willing to give up their government run healthcare benefits to opt into the very plan that they voted for? I think that part of their voting should be that they are also voting to give up their current healthcare benefits and be FORCED into purchasing this BS healthcare under penalty of fines via their stupid mandate! harumph!
Anybody who makes this bogus claim about the health care plan that members of Congress get has disqualified themselves from any serious participation in the debate.
Q:What type of health insurance do members of Congress receive? Is it a single-payer, government-run system? A:Members of Congress are covered by private insurance under the same system that covers all federal workers.
FULL ANSWER
Members of Congress have good health insurance by any standard, but it’s not free and not reserved only for them – and it’s not government insurance. House and Senate members are allowed to purchase private health insurance offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers more than 8 million other federal employees, retirees and their families.
Stop all the silly crap. i did not say "evil", only that government is ineffective, wasteful, sloppy, and full of fraud, waste, abuse and under serves those they profess to be helping. And once we have 0bamaCare there will be no other freaking options left to us. you will not be able to choose a better health care plan, renegotiate for better services, or just choose a different insurance provider.
Great system of waiting lines and budget busting costs to taxpayers.
The government will decide what medical services and treatments you may receive, not you and your doctor. All you will be allowed to do is pick the ones government says apply to you. Your 90 year old grandma will not be able to get a pacemaker, hip replacement, or liver transplant under 0bamaCare, even if your doctor is confident she is healthy enough, 0bamaCare bureaucrats will not see any of it as cost effective.
Under Obamacare my hypothetical 90 year old grandmother is fine because she is covered under Medicare.
Besides, I don't know of any doctor that would give a liver replacement to a 90 year old woman. It would simply be a waste of time and effort. She'd probably be dead soon.
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Go figure
