You do realize that if you divide $319 million by 319 million people, you get $1, don't you????????? I know that conservatives are frequently challenged when it comes to basic math, but this one earns a spot in my wingnut wisdom file!
The Medical Billing system is broken. Severely Broken. It is one of those cases where it is necessary to destroy it to save it! Seeking ways to fund a diseased health care system will continue to result in inadequate funding and the most expensive per capita health care system in the modern world without proportionate global ranking. The disease that first must be cured is a billing system based on procedures. Consider the Cardiologist. We believe the Cardiologist should be reimbursed equally for his time; whether he is conducting a physical examination, teaching a patient about their disease and how to affects its' course toward a more positive outcome or threading a catheter into a coronary artery regardless of whether none, one, two or three stents are placed. BTW a month ago a friend heard a cardiologist complain MediCare reduced the "per stent" reimbursement. Observe more stent placement per catheterization in 2014. Curing a procedure based billing systems will no doubt help reduce the excessive amount Americans spend on health care. It will encourage doctors to be physicians and remove any procedure fee inducements. Unlike any other fee scheme revision proposed, payment for time does not involve any denial of care inducements such as diagnosis based reimbursement. Diagnosis based reimbursement says "they" get so much for the diagnosis and if they deny you care, they make more money. The problem with such protocols is they fail to recognize differences in regional populations and their response to care. It is the Protocol Disease of one size fits all. Managed Care, HMO's, etc. are all "denial of care" schemes. Another popular denial of care scheme is the substitution of the physician for a Nurse Practitioner or Physicians assistant with a great personality. Their required monitoring does not occur! They function independently although that is not the rule. Who is gonna complain? Someone is saving money and the patient believes they must be good because they have such a great personality. As long as the American medical billing system rewards procedures, General Family Practice Primary Care physicians will remain very under compensated and an unattractive career goal for students who do have loans to pay off. It is not suggested all physicians' time should be equally compensated. Only that billing be based on time spent with a patient regardless of the activity during that time. Today's computer systems can easily be programmed for fraud. Yes I did upload the above before, and no one recognizes the genius involved by the 2 barefoot GP's who wrote it. Moi ret. barefoot GP Let Doctors be Physicians. Refuse Nurse Practitioners & Physician Assistants without a Physician present per the rules. My garbage man is a nice guy, great personality, I guess I should ask him about my belly pain - - get it? No
