Originally Posted by ssmith

This has nothing to do with the upcoming changes in Health Reform. It is in effect today- started Jan 1.

My point is to shed light on the original post regarding the letter they received from their Cardiologist.

Thanks ssmith. However, I don't think the question was ever answered about whether the letter came from the cardiologist. So while your post was welcome and informative, so far, light has not been shed on the source of the letter that kicked off this discussion.

Originally Posted by ssmith

Again what I meant to enforce is that Cardiology has been hit the hardest of all specialty groups. Medicare has cut reimbursement across the board 40%. I reviewed this today with our head Cardiologist.

The problem is that there is no fat to cut in Cardiology. We don't order tests that are not needed or do procedures that are not needed. Cardiolgists are not Cardiovascular surgeons and so they do not get paid the big bucks of a surgeon. They do Cardiac Catheterizations and stents and some peripheral cardiovascular and or renal stents. All of which are only done if needed.

What my group has done is join a large umbrella goup that is a part of our local hospital. This umbrella group then takes up the slack from other groups to keep them floating. The end result was that no one lost jobs or had to cut services.

This has nothing to do with the upcoming changes in Health Reform. It is in effect today- started Jan 1.

My point is to shed light on the original post regarding the letter they received from their Cardiologist.

Hope this has cleared up some of the misunderstanding. This is why I don't see this as political.

Thanks

TOTV"ers... I want to reinforce a very important part of this post: "THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH UPCOMING CHANGES IN HEALTH REFORM". This issus is and has been an ANNUAL issue Congress faced at the end of every year for many years. Rather than fix the problem correctly, every year around Dec 15th, at the 11th hour, Congress did a patch job to get through another year so physician providers did not face a huge reimbursement cut. Congress realized (correctly) that in most parts of the country, physicians would simply STOP participating as medicare providers if their reimbursement for services was severely cut. It appears that what happened this year was that Congress was so wrapped up in other issues that the "patch job" did not occur. Do NOT confuse this thread with Health Care Reform. Medicare reimbursement will deteriorate to what Medicaid is in most states. As such, most private practitioners offices may soon be saying to pts who call for services: "I'm sorry, we do not accept Medicare ins in this office."
It doesn't take a PhD in accounting or economics to recognize that if your expenses (rent, malpractice ins, utilities, payroll) stay the same or GO UP and your collections go DOWN 40% you wont stay in business very long.

RSHOFFER..Thanks for adding to the background on the problem. I have intentionally not identified the "source" as that is not important. What is important is the accuracy. It is up to the nay sayers to read the facts and then "factually" challenge it if is wrong. Identifying source's only allows for one more avenue for the nay sayers to attack the messenger without knowledge. Hopefully they will do their homework, be unbais in their analysis and add to the discussion with intellegence and not political leaning nor
generally negative attitudes. Again, thanks for constructive input.

Originally Posted by REH7380

RSHOFFER..Thanks for adding to the background on the problem. I have intentionally not identified the "source" as that is not important. What is important is the accuracy. It is up to the naysayers to read the facts and then "factually" challenge it if is wrong. Identifying source's only allows for one more avenue for the naysayers to attack the messenger without knowledge. Hopefully they will do their homework, be unbiased in their analysis and add to the discussion with intelligence and not political leaning nor
generally negative attitudes. Again, thanks for constructive input.

I think that if I were you I wouldn't bother with us; the biased, uneducated, factually challenged, unknowledgeable, non-homework doing, unintelligent, political leaning, negative, naysaying masses. We aren't worth your time. It is very evident that you are so much better prepared to deal with this problem on your own. I think we all look up with you with deepest respect.

The only people being poitical here are the ones complaining about the politization of the subject.
Not only has the reduction in doctor reimbursment already law, but we also will be facing higher deductibles with our supplemental insurance.
Insurance companies are now legally required to increase their deductables effective July 2010.

Now Xavier I understand you. Attack, attack without fact. Go back and read your REH quote and what you said below it. Those two sentences are so far removed from each other that they make no sense at all.

I still strongly suggest you read the pending bills. Based on all your posts in this thread, I do not believe you have done that. Until you do, your making statements and attacking issues that make me laugh at your biased one sided view. This is not a political issue, but a health care issue with a bill that is targeted against seniors. I assume you are one and as with all seniors you have to read this thing to understand how you will be impacted. It is not good for us.

Xavier..you say:
"I think that if I were you I wouldn't bother with us; the biased, uneducated, factually challenged, unknowledgeable, non-homework doing, unintelligent, political leaning, negative, naysaying masses. We aren't worth your time. It is very evident that you are so much better prepared to deal with this problem on your own. I think we all look up with you with deepest respect."

What the heck is wrong here. I see nothing in your response that addresses the issue?? As they say, 'If you don't like the message yell at the messenger, if you don't know the facts, just yell'..It appears you have been successful in doing both. Please stay on point and address the facts, avoid emotions. I am just part of the masses trying to understand what is going on?

Originally Posted by REH7380

Xavier..you say:
"I think that if I were you I wouldn't bother with us; the biased, uneducated, factually challenged, unknowledgeable, non-homework doing, unintelligent, political leaning, negative, naysaying masses. We aren't worth your time. It is very evident that you are so much better prepared to deal with this problem on your own. I think we all look up with you with deepest respect."

What the heck is wrong here. I see nothing in your response that addresses the issue?? As they say, 'If you don't like the message yell at the messenger, if you don't know the facts, just yell'..It appears you have been successful in doing both. Please stay on point and address the facts, avoid emotions. I am just part of the masses trying to understand what is going on?

All of those words are from your posts. I just read them back to you.

Originally Posted by Xavier

All of those words are from your posts. I just read them back to you.

If you don't agree , like or care for for REH7380 posts, you can put him on your ignore list since you seem to already have all the answers and don't care to hear someone else's opinion that doesn't copy yours.

Originally Posted by zcaveman

It only gets political when posters start slamming each other about the posts.

We're there.

Originally Posted by cybrgeezer

We're there.

I see the administrators have moved this post on reimbursement problems in Medicare (a HEALTH INSURANCE topic) to The Political Forum. The impetus for this after 53 other posts in the same thread appears to be, not that the topic changed, but that some of the posts became passionate, heated, challenging or even nasty.
Perhaps this forum should be renamed: The Let's Get Nasty and Hostile Forum.

or cost less in the future is either non lucid, naieve, unconscious, been out in the cold too long or simply has not a clue about how those who represent us do no not, nor have they ever fixed ANYTHING that costs too much.

There will be less service....the government is going to be paying less!!!!

Premiums will go up...the government is taxing the insurers who will pass it on to you.

Call it what you will, there will be "rationing" of services, tests....etc.

If it takes months to get an appointment now just wait till the new 30,000,000 to be covered get in line.

AND anybody who thinks there will be an actual cost offset by reducing medicare by $500,000,000,000 (that is with a 'b') is dead between the ears or otherwise. As was simply stated in a previous post in this thread....reduced revenues...same or most likely increasing expenses = somethings gotta give and it will be either the services go or the doctors who provide them go to a non government run business.

Your annual costs for the same coverage you have today will go up dramatically as you take on supplemental insurance to maintain the health care quality and quantity you have been used to getting all these years.

For those who speculate about the impact who are not 65 or older, they have no real knowledge of the scenario where there is no more personal revenue coming in (for most) after retirement....medical cost increases or take aways = reduced quality of life......the math is easy for those with their eyes and ears open.

btk

Are we supposed to wait until there is a bill passed to question its merits, if any? Are we supposed to wait until the Doctor tells us he will no longer accept Medicare or insurance for payment and you will have to come up with the $$$ for treatments and diagnosis up front?
How many seniors will be able to afford to fund the up front payment? How many seniors will forego their annual well check-up to save the extra $$$? How many will forego necessary surgery, treatments, and medications which would have given them a better quality of life to save the $$$ that our congress so willing hands out to pork projects and foreign governments who don't even offer so much as a thank you?
Once this legislation is passed, can it ever be reversed? Those who are pushing for a quick passage of these unread and unknown bills to be paid for by the hard working American people can well afford the above scenario. Our seniors cannot. Those who are try to foister Obamacare down our throats have little regard for anyone who is not part of their political base. Simply, they are NOT listening to the majority of the American electorate.
The time to make your voice heard is now and not take a wait and see position. This is not a political issue but an alert as to what people ought be thinking and considering, at least in part.
To bury this issue in the political forum is a disservice to us all. Consider,where will the money come from? What sacrafices will we be willing to make and at what expense? Who, will in fact, be the beneficiaries of this legislation?
Is all of this a diversionary tactic i.e., the Stimulus and bailout packages, wherein monies are being diverted to other programs and agencies which the powers that be are spending, nay, giving, to their cronies for useless projects under the guise of JOBS (Just OBama's Sidekicks)? Watch not what they say but where the money goes.

Politics is censored on "Talk of the Villages" by limiting its exposure to all. Religion and Sex are not.

Where is the logic in that.

I understand the TOTV moving it to Political. I do not agree that the subject is BUT we have allowed some to hijack the issue, make it political and thereby destroying the rational discussions it deserves. I would have rather seen the ones that sent in responses that were political moved and the basic quesiton to remain but I am sure that would be difficult for TOTV's Administrators to do.
It is sad that open discussions regard health and medicare is throttled by a few malcontents but I guess that is a way of life today..