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Home » News & Information » Business

Grace Cottage Hospital To Lay-Off 10% Of Staff


By mr.mike | Fri, February 22 2013

Just heard this story on the radio. Many Hospitals are "running in the red" due to Medicare reimbursements. I'm concerned about the future of healthcare once Obamacare really kicks in. Could this be another example of unintended consequences?

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Comments | 6

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Submitted by Lise on February 22, 2013 - 2:02pm. #

Medicare Payments

It might be a little early to blame Obamacare but I have heard that cuts to Medicare funding have made it hard for doctors and hospitals who see a lot of Medicare patients. In fact, I've also heard that some doctors are limiting the number of Medicare patients they take for that reason.

 
Submitted by NewVermonter on February 22, 2013 - 9:55pm. #

Medicare not the issue.

Anyone who thinks Medicare is the problem should REALLY read this Time.com article.

http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-...

 
Submitted by Lise on February 22, 2013 - 11:25pm. #

High Costs

I just read part of this today and it blew my mind. I've been out of western medical for over 20 years and I had no idea things had gotten this bad. Although it did remind me of the time I spent an afternoon in the Emergency Room back in the 80s and got a bill (health insurance paid) for over $5,000. I thought -- they did nothing for me but tell me I was ok and to go home.... And that's the truth, I had fainted in hot weather because back then I fainted a lot due to a head injury in a car accident. I was hauled to the Emergency Room because I fainted in a public place and had a hard time coming to -- and it cost $5,000 for them to ignore me in the hallway for three hours and then see me for 5 minutes. Amazing.

 
Submitted by NewVermonter on February 23, 2013 - 11:39pm. #

I know

It's horrific to read in a can't-look-can't-look-away sense - just like a bad car wreck.

But I think everyone should read it. It's important. Health care isn't about health care - it's about printing acres of money.

 
Submitted by cgrotke on February 23, 2013 - 11:44pm. #

There is also this commentary

There is also this commentary on that Time article at Tech Dirt called Healthcare Isn't A Free Market, It's A Giant Economic Scam by Mike Masnick.

One of his takeaways:

"The system is completely broken. In researching other aspects of the system, I'd already come to the conclusion that it should be scrapped entirely, with something completely different put in its place, but this article just helps take that belief to another level. And, the scary thing is that the chances of that happening are basically zero. We're stuck with this system, in part because the economic incentives are screwed up so much that it's ripe for widespread abuse. And when you have so many billions of dollars flowing, with a small group of folks profiting massively from that, there's simply no chance they'll allow for any real changes."

 
Submitted by mr.mike on February 24, 2013 - 2:16pm. #

It will only get worse.

And you think this government is going to fix it? I recently heard a retiring pediatric neurosurgeon named Ben Carson say the people that have HSA's can understand the costs and realize they have"skin in the game" when they see they someone,themselves, actually have to pay for some of it.
Many people think with this healthcare plan we've just passed that it's going to be a free system. Far from it. You can show articles all you want. The bottom line is talk to anyone that handles billing in a hospital and they'll all say the same thing. Trying to get full Medicare reimbursements are a nightmare and probably costs the hospital more in paperwork and personel than it's worth.

 

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