Impeding changes to our Health Care system

[classicman]

OK - I'll give you all some perspective.
3 weeks in shock trauma well over $1,000,000.
$20,000 is almost not worth having. Heck most auto insurance policies have at least $5,000 on them.

[Clodfobble]

Absolutely. Our health plan has paid out well over $20,000 already this year, and we haven't even had any major hospitalizations. My point was that a lot more than just the McDonald's employees have laughably inadequate coverage.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Like the nation's largest employer?

[classicman]

I wonder if the Teachers union waiver had anything to do with a political motive.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Damm right. Hell, my one day ER visit and a follow on 3 day ICU admission smoked through 20K.

Originally Posted by classicman

OK - I'll give you all some perspective.
3 weeks in shock trauma well over $1,000,000.
$20,000 is almost not worth having. Heck most auto insurance policies have at least $5,000 on them.

Dang guys, can you imagine where you'd be if you DIDN'T have insurance?

Fucked, that's where.

[TheMercenary]

McDonald's Gets Taste of Obama Sausage-Making: Caroline Baum

“We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, March 9, 2010.

She wasn’t kidding. The public got to peek under the hood last week when the Wall Street Journal reported that McDonald’s Corp. wanted out: out of a requirement in the new health-care law that compels employers to spend 80 to 85 percent of premiums on medical benefits.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-1...line-baum.html

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Dang guys, can you imagine where you'd be if you DIDN'T have insurance?

Actually the hospital eats the bill and then overcharges the rest of us, that is why the bills are so high.

One of the biggest losers in capturing $$ is from trauma care. Our state just voted in a $10 tag fee just to feed into the care of trauma patients.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Actually the hospital eats the bill and then overcharges the rest of us, that is why the bills are so high.

One of the biggest losers in capturing $$ is from trauma care. Our state just voted in a $10 tag fee just to feed into the care of trauma patients.

Dang guys, can you imagine where you'd be if you DIDN'T have insurance?

Fucked, that's where.

[Lamplighter]

I assume everyone complaining about the $ of trauma care is also in favor of capitalism for physicians and dentists.
That is, state-supported medical schools train med and dental students at a cost much higher than the tuition they pay,
so they can go into private practice to earn what ever the traffic will bear.
That's the capitalism part of it.

Did you know that private-practice dentists do not participate
in the trauma emergency response system... at least here in Oregon.
That's the dichotomy part of it.

Now for trauma care, we get to have a neuro-surgeon, an anesthesiologist, a full ER nursing staff,
a trained Trauma Coordinator, and their support staff either working or on-call 24/7.
We also have a emergency response team (Fire Dept ambulance) staffed with EMT's on 24/7 and a private ambulance (for transportation to the ER) to respond to the 911 calls.
That's the socialism part of it.

Did you know that private (non-specialized) physicians who are on-call (not working)
for the Central Oregon Trauma Center gets $1,000 per night, regardless of whether there is a call-in or not.
If there is a call-in (or even a phone consultation) the physician is then on his own (capitalism) clock
to be paid whatever is his "current and customary" rate will bear.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Dang guys, can you imagine where you'd be if you DIDN'T have insurance?
Fucked, that's where.

Yep I gots me some great insurance...Guess what?
I'm fucked anyway.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Did you know that private (non-specialized) physicians who are on-call (not working)
for the Central Oregon Trauma Center gets $1,000 per night, regardless of whether there is a call-in or not.
If there is a call-in (or even a phone consultation) the physician is then on his own (capitalism) clock
to be paid whatever is his "current and customary" rate will bear.

So what's the problem? That is how the system is set up in most places, but most places do not pay the on-call doc anything, they are just on Trauma Call and get only what they can get from the people who have insurance, the rest of the treatment they give is free. They call it Charity Call in a lot of places, and it is a condition of being a participating doc on staff and having admitting privileges for their regular patients. They have no choice but to participate. Some hospitals have docs who are employees, but that is not really the norm, and they may get paid something for call.

[TheMercenary]

Obama Care strikes again....

ObamaCare's Incentive to Drop Insurance
My state of Tennessee could reduce costs by over $146 million using the legislated mechanics of health reform to transfer coverage to the federal government.

Let's do a thought experiment. We'll use my own state of Tennessee and our state employees for our data. The year is 2014 and the Affordable Care Act is now in full operation. We're a large employer, with about 40,000 direct employees who participate in our health plan. In our thought experiment, let's exit the health-benefits business this year and help our employees use an exchange to purchase their own.

First of all, we need to keep our employees financially whole. With our current plan, they contribute 20% of the total cost of their health insurance, and that contribution in 2014 will total about $86 million. If all these employees now buy their insurance through an exchange, that personal share will increase by another $38 million. We'll adjust our employees' compensation in some rough fashion so that no employee is paying more for insurance as a result of our action. Taking into account the new taxes that would be incurred, the change in employee eligibility for subsidies, and allowing for inefficiency in how we distribute this new compensation, we'll triple our budget for this to $114 million.

Now that we've protected our employees, we'll also have to pay a federal penalty of $2,000 for each employee because we no longer offer health insurance; that's another $86 million. The total state cost is now about $200 million.

But if we keep our existing insurance plan, our cost will be $346 million. We can reduce our annual costs by over $146 million using the legislated mechanics of health reform to transfer them to the federal government.

That's just for our core employees. We also have 30,000 retirees under the age of 65, 128,000 employees in our local school systems, and 110,000 employees in local government, all of which presents strategies even more economically attractive than the thought experiment we just performed. Local governments will find eliminating all coverage particularly attractive, as many of them are small and will thus incur minor or no penalties; many have health plans that will not meet the minimum benefit threshold, and so they'll see a substantial and unavoidable increase in cost if they continue providing benefits under the new federal rules.

Our thought experiment shows how the economics of dropping existing coverage is about to become very attractive to many employers, both public and private. By 2014, there will be a mini-industry of consultants knocking on employers' doors to explain the new opportunity. And in the years after 2014, the economics just keep getting better.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...pinion_LEADTop

[classicman]

Hey I got some news today...
My insurance premiums went up 70% Woo Hoo.
I can't imagine how much they would have gone up without HCR. Gobama!

[TheMercenary]

Citing health care law, Boeing pares employee plan

In a letter mailed to employees late last week, the company cited the overhaul as part of the reason it is asking some 90,000 nonunion workers to pay significantly more for their health plan next year. A copy of the letter was obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

"The newly enacted health care reform legislation, while intended to expand access to care for millions of uninsured Americans, is also adding cost pressure as requirements of the new law are phased in over the next several years," wrote Rick Stephens, Boeing's senior vice president for human resources.

Boeing is the latest major employer to signal a shift for its workers as a result of the legislation, which expands coverage to more than 30 million uninsured people and ranks as President Barack Obama's top domestic achievement. Earlier, McDonald's had raised questions about whether a limited benefit plan that serves some 30,000 of its employees would remain viable under the law. That prompted the administration to issue McDonald's a waiver from certain requirements under the law.

Spokeswoman Karen Forte said the Boeing plan is more generous than what its closest competitors offer, and the company was concerned it would get hit with a new tax under the law.

The tax on so-called "Cadillac" health plans doesn't take effect until 2018, but employers are already beginning to assess their exposure because it is hefty: at 40 percent of the value above $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for a family plan.

Great... Read it and weep....

Boeing said annual deductibles and copayments will increase for all its plans next year.

Deductibles, the share of medical costs that employees pay annually before their plan kicks in, will go up to $300 for individuals, an increase of $100. For families, the new deductible will be $900, an increase of $300.

In addition, Boeing is instituting a copayment of 10 percent after the deductible has been met. The copayment will rise to 20 percent in 2012.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/new...oyee_plan.html

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by classicman

Hey I got some news today... My insurance premiums went up 70% Woo Hoo.
I can't imagine how much they would have gone up without HCR. Gobama!

Obama Care has hit mine as well. They are going up significantly and we have a good plan. But it remains to be seen if we are going to accept it or just completely drop it and ask to become a 1099 employee and get it from the gobberment, I will just take advantage of the screwed up system and put it back on the system.