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#Post#: 656--------------------------------------------------
Profits Over Patients in the "Health" Care Field
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: November 12, 2022, 5:18 pm
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[center]
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Nov 11 2022
This commentary is by [b]Patrick Flood, former commissioner of
the Department of Mental Health and the Department of
Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, and former deputy
secretary of the Agency of Human Services.[/b] He is now retired
and lives in Woodbury. This is one of three commentaries about
health care; one was published Nov. 4 and the last will be
published Nov. 18.
[center]Patrick Flood: An affordable health care system for a
healthier Vermont
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[/center]
In her recent commentary, Julie Wasserman
HTML https://vtdigger.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=405704&action=edit<br
/>described in detail how health care reform efforts in Vermont
have failed over the past six years. They have failed chiefly
because they have not focused on the right issues and solutions.
Health reform has been a thinly veiled effort to
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/>
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-010922192452.gifmaintain<br
/>the status quo while tinkering around the edges. Our state’s
reform effort has been an initiative led by the hospitals,
primarily the UVM Health Network, to
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202719-1406786.gif<br
/>protect the hospitals’ funding 💰 and 🦀
dominance
of the health care system.
The reality is that Vermont will never achieve rational cost
control, universal access and better health for its population
[b]until our reform efforts shift dramatically to focus on
primary care, prevention and other health-related community
services. [/b]
It is a well-established fact that most health care systems in
Europe guarantee universal access to health care as a right and
achieve better health outcomes for much lower cost. What
explains the latter? For starters, these health care systems
dedicate more resources to primary care and to addressing social
issues (like mental health, hunger and homelessness) that create
or worsen health problems.
In this country, including Vermont, we do just the opposite.
Most of our health care dollars are directed to hospital care
and high-cost services, much of which can be avoided with more
medical and social intervention at the community level. As Ms.
Wasserman pointed out in her commentary, a significant
percentage of hospital services in Vermont is avoidable.
There are four things we can do immediately to avoid unnecessary
hospital treatment and, thus, bring down the cost of health
care.
First, expand and strengthen primary care services and remove
financial barriers, like high deductibles, which prevent people
from accessing it. Everyone in health care knows that primary
care is foundational to a high-quality, affordable and equitable
health care system and we have known it for a long time. Yet,
primary care capacity in Vermont is grossly inadequate.
Statewide, we urgently need more primary care doctors, physician
assistants and nurse practitioners, and nurses. Reimbursement
rates for primary care need to be increased, working conditions
improved, and more medical students incentivized to choose
primary care as a profession. None of this is a mystery or
complicated.
Second, expand and improve mental health services. Mental health
problems like anxiety and depression, left untreated, cause or
worsen many physical health problems and drive-up costs. Yet,
our mental health system is also in crisis. More hospital
treatment beds are not the answer. A more preventive approach,
including more crisis response, community support and
counseling, is the answer. It is far cheaper and cost -effective
to fund prevention and community-based intervention than to
increase and fill more beds.
Third, expand and strengthen home health services. Home health
caregivers regularly care for chronically ill people in their
homes and reduce the number of unnecessary hospital stays. Home
health also offers hospice services, which keep terminally ill
people out of hospitals for expensive end-of-life care that they
may not want.
Yet, home health agencies struggle to maintain the staff they
need due to funding cuts at the federal level and inadequate
funding at the state level. So, instead, many people needlessly
spend time, including their final days, in hospitals.
Fourth, we must effectively address what are called the “social
determinants of health,” such as hunger, homelessness and abuse.
These issues have huge impacts on people’s health, yet we treat
them as if they are separate from the health care system. We
underfund them, then wait until people have severe and untreated
medical conditions and end up in the hospital.
How would Vermont fund such improvements?
First, the state should stop funding the failed accountable care
organization, OneCare Vermont, and reassign that funding to
these initiatives. Seventy-eight percent of OneCare’s operating
costs are paid with publicly funded Medicaid funds and could be
redirected to better use.
If properly implemented, these four initiatives would result in
lower hospital and emergency room admissions by reducing
avoidable care. That alone would not suffice. However, savings
from those reductions could be redistributed to further expand
the initiatives above.
This redistribution would continue until Vermont reached the
best balance between funding for hospitals and funding for
community services and achieved a well-balanced, affordable
health care system.
There is no magic to designing a high-quality, affordable and
fair health care system. We know what needs to be done, and
we’ve known it for a long time. We need to restructure our
hospital system to limit its cost (remember how much of the care
is avoidable) and, instead, reallocate funding poorly spent in
that system to support the prevention-oriented services and
programs described above.
Of course, we need and want an adequately financed, high-quality
hospital system, and we certainly can have one with all the
money we are spending on it today. But a lot of that money is
being spent unwisely and ineffectively. As a result, many
Vermonters can’t get or afford the care they need. We can do
better, and we need to begin now.
On Nov 18, in the third and final installment of these
commentaries, Mark Hage will describe systemic steps that can be
taken to restructure hospital funding to make it more equitable,
affordable and understandable.
HTML https://vtdigger.org/2022/11/11/patrick-flood-an-affordable-health-care-system-for-a-healthier-vermont/
#Post#: 889--------------------------------------------------
Last year, 38% of all insured Vermonters (187,800) were
determined to be underinsured.
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: February 27, 2023, 2:11 pm
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[center]
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February 26, 2023 By Bill Schubart
[center]
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[center]The University of Vermont Medical Center complex. Photo
courtesy of UVM Health Network[/center]
[center]Bill Schubart: The 🎯
[glow=teal,2,300]Inversion[/glow]: Make primary care
[glow=green,2,300]primary[/glow] and hospitals
[glow=teal,2,300]secondary[/glow]
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422145344-560693.png[/center]
SNIPPETS:
Research shows increased primary care spending is associated
with fewer ER visits
HTML https://www.graham-center.org/content/dam/rgc/documents/publications-reports/reports/Investing-Primary-Care-State-Level-PCMH-Report.pdf,<br
/>fewer hospitalizations, better health outcomes, and lower
costs.
But this path will require right-sizing some superfluous
hospitals as community health centers and moving some of their
secondary and tertiary services to regional hospitals.
Hospitals are not a gateway to well-being. Instead, they provide
lifesaving specialty services that can’t be offered at the
community level: advanced diagnostics, surgeries, trauma and
inpatient care.
But the point of entry into the health care system must be
community-based [glow=teal,2,300]primary care health
centers[/glow], not regional emergency rooms, which are the most
expensive point of entry and are chronically overcrowded and
understaffed. Emergency rooms are for emergencies, not for
primary care. ... ...
— Underinsured Vermonters: :( Last year, 38% of all insured
Vermonters (187,800) were determined to be underinsured.
“Underinsured” is defined as “persons with insurance but whose
policy does not sufficiently cover current medical costs.”
Although fully insured, they can’t access care due to the high
cost of co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance. Among the
underinsured with past-due medical debt, 84% owed money to
hospitals and 16% to outpatient facilities, and 34,500
Vermonters have used up all or most of their savings to pay
medical bills.
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[glow=red,2,300]Uninsured[/glow] Vermonters 18 to 64 years old
were three to seven times more likely to defer care due to cost
than insured Vermonters, depending on the type of care. And in
2019, Vermont hospitals reported $85 million in medical debt
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422182057.gif,<br
/>not including bills paid off with credit cards or put on
long-term payment plans.
Full article:
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HTML https://vtdigger.org/2023/02/26/bill-schubart-the-inversion-make-primary-care-primary-and-hospitals-secondary/
#Post#: 898--------------------------------------------------
🚩 A few other facts and figures to keep in mind as Big
Insurance thrives:
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: February 28, 2023, 4:06 pm
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Feb 27 2023 Wendell Potter
[center]BIG INSURANCE
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-010922192452.gif2022:<br
/>Revenues reached $1.25 trillion thanks to sucking billions out
of the pharmacy supply chain – and taxpayers' pockets
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-270922135850.png[/center]
[move]Analysis of the 2022 financial statements of
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/>UnitedHealth Group, CVS/Aetna, Cigna, Elevance, Humana,
Centene,
and Molina[/move]
SNIPPET:
A few other facts and figures to keep in mind as Big Insurance
thrives:
🤦‍♂️ 27.5 million people remain
uninsured in the United States. Up to 14 million more will lose
their Medicaid coverage once the pandemic emergency period ends
later this year.
🤦‍♂️ 100 million of us – almost one
of every three people in this country – now have medical debt.
😠 In 2023, U.S. families can be on the hook for up to
$18,200 in out-of-pocket requirements before their coverage
kicks in, up 43% since 2014 when it was $12,700.
Read ALL OF IT:
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/>
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HTML https://wendellpotter.substack.com/p/big-insurance-2022-revenues-reached
#Post#: 1087--------------------------------------------------
Re: Profits Over Patients in the "Health" Care Field
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 7, 2023, 4:38 pm
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JUN 6, 2023 by [glow=green,2,300]BILL MCKIBBEN[/glow]
A powerful new study from Stand.earth shows that the biggest
healthcare providers have billions invested in
[glow=maroon,2,300]fossil fuels[/glow], even though their
combustion causes one death in five on this
planet.[glow=red,2,300] Burning hydrocarbons[/glow] is like
[glow=red,2,300]burning cigarettes[/glow]:☠️ unsafe
for human health, and yet “the Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente,
Ascension Health System, and the nation’s largest health system
HCA Healthcare have over $4.6 billion invested in
[glow=red,2,300]fossil fuels[/glow].”
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Read more:
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HTML https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/free-hong
#Post#: 1101--------------------------------------------------
Patients on public insurance have a right to know if they're
being treated differently
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 11, 2023, 1:07 pm
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[center]
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June 8, 2023 by Rosa Mino, PhD, and Amanda Masino, PhD
[color=navy]Rosa Mino, PhD, and Amanda Masino, PhD, are biology
professors.
[center]Oh, You Have 🙃 Medicare? We'll Skip That Test.
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[center]— Patients on public insurance have a right to
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/>know if they're being treated
[glow=maroon,2,300]differently[/glow][/center]
SNIPPET:
*Patient's name has been changed
Magda* was 70 years old when she suffered a mild stroke. She was
taken to a hospital, where the emergency department and critical
care unit ran the appropriate tests and sent her home with
medicine and a monitor for irregular heartbeats.
Practice guidelines for stroke follow-up advise providers to
evaluate stroke cause, which includes, for patients like Magda,
noninvasive cervical carotid imaging to evaluate any stenosis.
If present, cervical artery stenosis must be addressed. This
would include revascularization when appropriate, or medication
and lifestyle modification. Magda was not told this. If not for
a knowledgeable family member who categorically requested the
necessary imaging, she may have gone untreated.
The oversight was almost catastrophic. She had
[glow=red,2,300]severe stenosis[/glow]. It could have taken her
life.
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There are many possible reasons why the attending physician
decided not to proceed with imaging tests. Perhaps they felt it
was clinically unnecessary. But then why, once it was requested,
did they perform the test without any objections? Magda suspects
it happened because of her insurance: she is covered by
Medicare.
Unfortunately, Magda's experience is not unique. Private
insurance generally pays healthcare providers more than
federally funded programs like Medicare or Medicaid. Public
insurance beneficiaries report they feel that they don't have
the same level of access to high-quality care as privately
insured patients. This apprehension is not imaginary.
Patients must be able to determine not only whether a provider
accepts Medicaid/Medicare, but also if that provider treats
patients who have publicly funded insurance with the same level
of care. One part of the solution could be transparent and
easily accessible information about patient demographics
(information that includes data by patient insurance type).
A Medicare or Medicaid patient's first challenge is in finding a
healthcare provider that will take their insurance. Many
providers do not accept federally funded insurance coverage,
although some get certified because, despite the lower revenue,
they expect more consistency in payments. (Unfortunately, claim
denials and billing problems often stymie these expectations.)
Full article with info on the most Socially Responsible
Hospitals:
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HTML https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/104912
#Post#: 1131--------------------------------------------------
That was the testimony that got Kentucky to pass prior
authorization rules that say once something is authorized, it's
a
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: June 20, 2023, 1:49 pm
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AGelbert NOTE: This addresses the rampant corporate greed
seriously [glow=red,2,300]undermining [/glow]the medical
profession in the U.S.:
[center]
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June 16, 2023
[center]Medicare Pay and Prior Authorization Among Priorities
for AMA President-Elect[/center]
[move]— Bruce Scott, MD, sits down for an exclusive interview by
Joyce Frieden, Washington Editor, MedPage Today [/move]
SNIPPET:
What magnifies the problem is that
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/>[glow=red,2,300]private payers[/glow], years ago, figured this
whole thing out, and they have [glow=red,2,300]linked their
contracts[/glow] to the Medicare pay rate. So in effect, they
save money because they don't give us any kind of an
inflationary increase [because Medicare doesn't]. I had a major
health insurance company offer us a contract that is based upon
80% of Medicare. And they offered us surgical rates that we
pointed out to them were [b]less than the rates they paid us in
2017
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122316-661919.bmp[/b].<br
/>This
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202719-1406786.gifhttps://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-110422205132-6451602.gifhttps://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-010922192452.gifcompany<br
/>has 60% of the private-pay market in this city and in this
region. Three months ago, we started trying to negotiate with
them, and they have stonewalled us ever since ... Their
😈 attitude is "take it or leave it." I wish I could tell
you that it was just this one company and no one else is like
this, but this is standard operating procedure right now.
Our options at this point are to say no to the contract, but
that leaves our patients out in the cold. That also financially
hurts our practice; we can't walk away from 60% of our business.
And our other alternatives are to become employed by the
hospital, which is something we've not been wanting to do, or to
walk away from our patients, or alternatively tell our patients
that they're going have to pay us out-of-network. So we have no
good choice here.
That is unfortunately happening across America, and this is why
you have one out of five doctors saying that they want to look
for a different career or retire in the next 2 years. That's a
crisis.
Full interview:
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/>👀
HTML https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/generalprofessionalissues/105063
#Post#: 1190--------------------------------------------------
📢 Every year ~ 795,000 Americans die or become
permanently disabled from diagnostic error
🤦‍♂️
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: July 18, 2023, 1:11 pm
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[move]An estimated 795,000 Americans die or become
[glow=maroon,2,300]permanently disabled[/glow] every year due to
[glow=red,2,300]misdiagnosed diseases[/glow], according to a
study in BMJ Quality & Safety.[/move]
[img
width=150]
HTML https://journals.bmj.com/sites/default/themes/bmjj/img/logos/logo-bmj-journals.svg[/img]
July 16, 2023
[center]Burden
👉
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/1/3-120818185039-1657732.gif<br
/>of serious harms from diagnostic [glow=red,2,300]error[/glow]
in
the USA
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/>
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422145533-5671050.gif[/center]
SNIPPET: 👀
Results 👉 Annual US incidence was [glow=red,2,300]6.0 M
vascular events, 6.2 M infections and 1.5 M cancers[/glow]
🤦‍♂️. Per ‘Big Three’ dangerous
disease case, weighted mean error and serious harm rates were
11.1% and 4.4%, respectively. Extrapolating to all diseases
(including non-‘Big Three’ dangerous disease categories), we
estimated total serious harms annually in the USA to be
795 000 (plausible range 598 000–1 023 000).
Sensitivity analyses using more conservative assumptions
estimated 549 000 serious harms. Results were compatible
with setting-specific serious harm estimates from inpatient,
emergency department and ambulatory care. The [glow=red,2,300]15
dangerous diseases[/glow] accounted for
[glow=red,2,300]50.7%[/glow] of total ☠️ serious
harms and the [b]top 5 ([glow=red,2,300]stroke, sepsis,
pneumonia, venous thromboembolism and lung cancer[/glow])
accounted for [glow=red,2,300]☠️ 38.7%[/glow].[/b]
Conclusion 👉 An estimated 795 000 Americans
become permanently disabled or die annually across care settings
because dangerous diseases are misdiagnosed. Just 15 diseases
account for about half of all [glow=red,2,300]serious
harms[/glow], so the problem may be more tractable than
previously imagined.
Read more:
HTML https://media.tenor.com/images/5423e809b1a22096b6925bf9bc3fd1cb/tenor.gif
HTML https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/early/2023/07/16/bmjqs-2021-014130
#Post#: 1208--------------------------------------------------
The ratio of doctors to other healthcare workers is now 1:16, up
from 1:14 two decades ago.
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: July 31, 2023, 5:45 pm
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[center]
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Commentaries are opinion pieces contributed by readers and
newsmakers. VTDigger strives to publish a variety of views from
a broad range of Vermonters. Commentaries give voice to
community members and do not represent VTDigger’s views. To
submit a commentary, follow the instructions here.
July 30, 2023, 7:07 am This commentary is by Lee Russ of
Bennington, a retired legal editor who was the lead
editor/author of both the third edition of “Couch on Insurance”
and the Attorneys Medical Advisor.
[center]Lee Russ: In health care, it’s 😈💰 10 to
1 [glow=red,2,300]against[/glow] us 😖[/center]
[move]Tell people: 10-to-1. Tell everyone you know. Tell your
legislators over and over again until they really understand how
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422182057.gif<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]disastrous[/glow] this is.[/move]
Imagine for one minute that the repair shop to which you take
your car has two mechanics who work on the cars, but 20 people
who work in the office making appointments, creating work
orders, etc. How much would it cost to get a simple tuneup or
oil change?
Now imagine that this situation existed in the health care
field.
Surprise! You don’t have to imagine; that’s the reality in
American health care. There are now 10 health care
administrators for every doctor: “The ratio of doctors to other
healthcare workers is now 1:16, up from 1:14 two decades ago. Of
those 16 workers for every doctor, only six are involved in
caring for patients — nurses and home health aides, for example.
The other 10 are in purely administrative roles.”
How does this insanity come to pass? It’s what happens when a
health care system is fractured into several discrete and
competing interests. Each zealously pursues its own interests —
insurers, drug companies, pharmacy benefit managers, device
manufacturers, for-profit providers, private equity shark
investors — where are the patients?
Patients have no organization similar to America’s Health
Insurance Plans (AHIP), the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), or the Partnership for
America’s Health Care Future (PAHCF). The PAHCF alone includes
over 100 individual organizations.
The combined financial power of these organizations, all of
which profit greatly from the current 10-to-1 system, puts the
resources of individual patients to shame. It is always these
organizations that are the “players” who get “a seat at the
table.”
All of which has gotten us to this point where the cost of
health care is crushing people. A veteran health care journalist
reports that “I’ve seen patients’ faith shaken. They’re tired of
shocking medical bills they didn’t expect and can’t afford. And
they’re disgusted by the collection notices, the threatening
phone calls, and the appointments they can’t get because they
owe money.”
A practicing doctor writes in The New York Times that “There’s
nobody measuring the time spent on the phone plus lost wages
plus complications from delayed care for every single patient in
the United States.” And certainly no one even attempts to
identify/quantify the psychological and emotional toll of the
anxiety that all this causes people trying to navigate the
labyrinth while sick and worrying that the delays will kill
them.
Again: Ten administrators for every doctor. None of the current
health care “reform” proposals addresses this problem except
Medicare for All.
And despite the fact that the problem affects everybody, the
executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party told me not
long ago that health care was not a hot topic for voters when
candidates speak to them. 🤦‍♂️
If true, we have to make it a 📢 hot topic.
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/>
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422133654.gif<br
/>Tell people: 10-to-1. Tell everyone you know. Tell your
legislators over and over again until they really understand
how[glow=red,2,300] disastrous [/glow]this is.
HTML https://vtdigger.org/2023/07/30/lee-russ-in-health-care-its-10-to-1-against-us/
#Post#: 1233--------------------------------------------------
MORE Cruel, AND SENSELESS, Cuts to Medicare by Corporate
Corrupted 🐍 CMS
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: August 11, 2023, 11:24 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]
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August 10, 2023 by Nikesh Patel, PT
Patel is a physical therapist.
[center]
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422133654.gif<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]Deeper[/glow] Medicare Cuts Won't Reduce the
$50B Spending on Older Adult Falls[/center]
[move]Cutting physical therapy reimbursement is
[glow=red,2,300]bad[/glow] for patients [glow=red,2,300]and
bad[/glow] for spending[/move]
Falls among seniors pose a significant public health challenge,
leading to 3 million emergency room visits and more than 36,000
deaths 😞 each year. By prioritizing physical therapy as
a preventive measure, we can address this issue proactively and
promote healthier aging for our senior
population.
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-090422150144.png
Helping seniors build strength and balance is not only good for
patients, but also, it is cost-effective and helps save the
Medicare system money. So, it is alarming that Medicare has
proposed yet another round of cuts to physical, occupational,
and speech therapy. These cuts, if implemented, would have
severe consequences for seniors' access to vital care and
threaten the effectiveness and affordability of treatment.
Congress must take immediate action to prevent these cuts and
protect the well-being of our aging population as we tackle the
immense problem of senior falls.
Over the years, the
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622210450-1415528.gif<br
/>[glow=maroon,2,300]Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202719-14071062.gif<br
/>Services (CMS)[/glow] has consistently announced plans for
[glow=red,2,300]deep cuts[/glow] to specialty
services,[glow=red,2,300] including[/glow] physical therapy
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122257-6582083.bmp.<br
/>Planned 😈 cuts to physical therapy services have
[glow=red,2,300]compounded on top of one another
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422182057.gif,<br
/>reaching 9%[/glow] between 2020 and
2024
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622153115-1384130.png.<br
/>The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule for CY2024,
released on July 13, continues this trend by proposing to cut
payments for these services by at least 3.36% -- and even higher
in some parts of the country due to the highly technical
😉😈 formula
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622202719-1406786.gif<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]CMS[/glow] uses to determine reimbursement. If
allowed to go into effect next year, these cuts will place an
extraordinary burden on providers and undermine their ability to
deliver quality care to older Americans. Even more worrying, the
cuts will endanger the ability of seniors to access the
community-based therapy services that are essential for their
well-being.
The continuous cuts to reimbursement rates jeopardize the
stability of all specialty sectors, including physical therapy,
and raise concerns about the potential closure of practices and
restricted access for Medicare beneficiaries. If Congress does
not act, this would profoundly impact seniors who rely on
physical therapy to maintain their health, independence, and
quality of life.
If cost savings are the most important factor, let's point to
the runaway financial burden if the senior falls epidemic is
left unaddressed. By CDC estimates, about $50 billion is spent
on medical costs related to nonfatal fall injuries each year,
and $754 million is spent connected to fatal falls. According to
a report by the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, the
annual cost will skyrocket to $100 billion spent on fall
treatment care by 2030.
HTML https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/105834
#Post#: 1285--------------------------------------------------
Violence in Healthcare: Why Are People So Angry?
DIR By: AGelbert
Date: September 4, 2023, 6:31 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]
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September 3, 2023 by Amy Faith Ho, MD, MPH, an emergency
physician, published writer, and national speaker on issues
pertaining to healthcare and health policy.
[center][glow=red,2,300]Violence[/glow] in Healthcare: Why Are
People So
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622153109-13672051.gif<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]Angry[/glow]?
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-070822230414-163943.png[/center]
[center]The healthcare system has failed us all when we needed
it most[/center]
SNIPPET:
We entered medicine to save lives, not to have our own lives
taken away. We're sworn to do no harm, but there is harm
increasingly directed at us.
Unfortunately, there is no simple solution, just like there is
no simple solution to violence as a whole.
Police and security officers, metal detectors, panic buttons,
"de-escalation training," "zero tolerance" signs, increased
penaltiesopens in a new tab or window for violence -- I've
worked at places that do them all. And yet, there is still
violence.
It begs the question: in the field of healing, why are people so
angry?
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-090422150144.png<br
/>For the same reasons we, in healthcare, are
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-080422121331.gif<br
/>angry too: because the healthcare system failed us when we
needed it the most.
Staffing shortages, drug shortages, prior authorization,
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622210450-1415528.gif<br
/>extortionist middlemen, long wait times, high prices, rampant
health disparities and inequities, feeling
[glow=red,2,300]gouged[/glow] and powerless when we are at our
most vulnerable. We're all angry about the same things:
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422133654.gif<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]failures[/glow] of a system we depended on.
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422135315.png
We want to connect directly and compassionately, not through
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-010922192452.gif<br
/>middlemen like insurers and their
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-110422205132-6451602.gif<br
/>required approvals and networks.
We want the autonomy to seek, give and receive care, not limited
by bureaucracy or colored by polarizing politicization.
We want empathy, understanding, compassion -- and most
importantly, the time to do so in a [glow=blue,2,300]genuine
way[/glow].
We want to trust a system that has wronged us so badly in the
past.
We want healthcare to be about care again -- not the
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622210450-1415528.gifhttps://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-040622210509-141844.gif$4.3<br
/>trillion
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122619-6812456.gif<br
/>[glow=red,2,300]business[/glow] it has
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-050422182057.gif<br
/>become.
Full article (Don't miss the Comments!):
HTML https://soberthinking.createaforum.com/gallery/soberthinking/1-120422122733-6851207.png
HTML https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/106148
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