Doctor tells Obama supporters: Go elsewhere for health care

[houndawg]

OK, so you work for an office that accepts Medicare. However, many physicians do not accept it as it is, and that number is going to go up.

My father is a retired dentist, and he was the only dentist in Caswell County NC who took Medicare. In fact, he had referrals from all over Alamance, Guilford, Rockingham and Person Counties, because most dentists in those counties did not take Medicare. This was 25 years ago. The only reason Dad continued to take Medicare at a 50% reduction to his customary fees was because he was second generation (Granddad was a dentist, too) and so many of Dad's long time patients were also his father's. Some days he would say that it was so much easier to be a dentist in Caswell County if you were not from there and not tied to the community, then you could just not take Medicare with a clear conscience.

Dad's CPA did some numbers for him once, and it was determined that if he did nothing but Medicare, he would have operated at a loss after insurance and other fees/bills.

Just out of curiosity, Jon- did any of the doctors at your practice NOT accept Medicare? Have you ever worked for any that did not? If not, then you are just seeing one side of the picture.

All of our doctors take Medicare, and always have. Medicare has made great strides in paying timely - they have now become the most efficient payor. And with a majority of plans paying at Medicare or near Medicare rates, you have to operate your practice efficiently as well to make good money, but it is acheivable.

Now if the 21% rate cut takes effect permenantly, then that proposition becomes much harder.

Bummer, there goes Wednesday golf.

[native]

What would Jesus do?



By the way......I'm so phuckin sick of the CONK bullsh*t in this country. Please get your sorry *ss states to secede and be done with it! We'll see who makes out better in the long run!

The doctor may not care, perhaps he's not a Christian...the article doesn't say. However, I would imagine Jesus would heal/ cure the person who walks through the door of his practice, according to the Bible, Jesus had substantial medical care abilities. Just a thought.

You are right, ASUMounatineer, but I doubt that Jesus would stop at healing the person's physical ailments.

[kalm]

All of our doctors take Medicare, and always have. Medicare has made great strides in paying timely - they have now become the most efficient payor. And with a majority of plans paying at Medicare or near Medicare rates, you have to operate your practice efficiently as well to make good money, but it is acheivable.

Now if the 21% rate cut takes effect permenantly, then that proposition becomes much harder.

Bummer, there goes Wednesday golf.

Nah, but they might have to start mingling with the hoi poloi at the local muni.

[JohnStOnge]

Back to the issue of violating the hippocratic oath. If this guy is violating the hippocratic oath, so are Doctors that refuse to treat patients because they won't pay them. And Doctors do do that.

As an aside, I'd never looked at the hippocratic oath before. I looked it up and saw that what they take now isn't really the hippocratic oath at all. It's a "modern version" that bears little resemblence to the original. The original includes such things as a specific promise not to induce abortions. Also a promise never to use a knife but, rather to "leave that to those trained in that craft" as the English translation I looked at goes. So I guess Doctors used strictly "pharmaceutical" techniques back then.

Of course this guy does not refuse to treat anybody for voting for Obama anyway. He's doesn't ask people who they voted for. He was just making a political statement.

[Col Hogan]

OK, so you work for an office that accepts Medicare. However, many physicians do not accept it as it is, and that number is going to go up.

My father is a retired dentist, and he was the only dentist in Caswell County NC who took Medicare. In fact, he had referrals from all over Alamance, Guilford, Rockingham and Person Counties, because most dentists in those counties did not take Medicare. This was 25 years ago. The only reason Dad continued to take Medicare at a 50% reduction to his customary fees was because he was second generation (Granddad was a dentist, too) and so many of Dad's long time patients were also his father's. Some days he would say that it was so much easier to be a dentist in Caswell County if you were not from there and not tied to the community, then you could just not take Medicare with a clear conscience.

Dad's CPA did some numbers for him once, and it was determined that if he did nothing but Medicare, he would have operated at a loss after insurance and other fees/bills.

Just out of curiosity, Jon- did any of the doctors at your practice NOT accept Medicare? Have you ever worked for any that did not? If not, then you are just seeing one side of the picture.

All of our doctors take Medicare, and always have. Medicare has made great strides in paying timely - they have now become the most efficient payor. And with a majority of plans paying at Medicare or near Medicare rates, you have to operate your practice efficiently as well to make good money, but it is acheivable.

Now if the 21% rate cut takes effect permenantly, then that proposition becomes much harder.

But if the 21% rate cut is not keep in law, the Democrats in effect lied to the nation...that the legislation just passed would reduce the deficit...save us money...

jon...are you saying the Democrats lied to us just to get that bill passed???

[dbackjon]

All of our doctors take Medicare, and always have. Medicare has made great strides in paying timely - they have now become the most efficient payor. And with a majority of plans paying at Medicare or near Medicare rates, you have to operate your practice efficiently as well to make good money, but it is acheivable.

Now if the 21% rate cut takes effect permenantly, then that proposition becomes much harder.

But if the 21% rate cut is not keep in law, the Democrats in effect lied to the nation...that the legislation just passed would reduce the deficit...save us money...

jon...are you saying the Democrats lied to us just to get that bill passed???

Well, the rate cut has gone into effect, so technically no. A separate bill will restore the rate. Slippery politicians (of any stripe)

[JohnStOnge]

I guess I need to do more research. The question of how efficient Medicare is isn't something I've ever tried to find out about before. But I did a Google on "Doctors dropping out of Medicare." Right off the bat, top of the "hit" list, was this article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993462778328019.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A quote:

"More and more of my fellow doctors are turning away Medicare patients because of the diminished reimbursements and the growing delay in payments."

The article is about a year old so maybe things have changed dramatically over the past year. Also, it's just one Doctor with "conservative" associations writing in a "conservative" publication. But it's enough to make me reserve judgement on the assertion that Medicare is the most efficient payor.

[JohnStOnge]

Another article on Medicare:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/24/news/ec ... _patients/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Different issue, but still interesting. A quote:

"Dr. Edward Kornel, a neurosurgeon based in White Plains, N.Y., stopped seeing Medicare patients two years ago. Two colleagues in his group practice have joined him in dropping Medicare patients over the past six months.

Kornel, who's been in practice for 27 years, said he had always accepted Medicare patients in the past.

'But when I looked at my income from reimbursements, I was losing money every time I took care of a Medicare patient,' said Kornel. 'It wasn't covering my costs.'"

[JohnStOnge]

One more article suggesting that maybe the biggest problem isn't how fast or slow Medicare is in processing claims but is instead the fact that the program doesn't provide sufficient compensation:

http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA602.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A quote:

"According to spokeswoman Lynn Cosway, Mayo – one of America's premier health care institutions – lost over $840 million in one year on Medicare."

Another:

"In fact, Mayo officials claim they only receive only about 50 percent of treatment cost."

That's in spite of the fact that according to the graphic at http://facts.kff.org/chart.aspx?ch=378" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Medicare accounts for 13% of the Federal Government's 3.5 trillion dollars in spending. Do the math and you come up with about $455 billion.

It really is sad. We are at a point in the history of our country when we should be saying, "Look, government is not responsible for seeing to it that you personally are taken care of." Instead, we just took another insane step in the opposite direction.

[native]

...Of course the problem could also be solved by returning to a Federal government role consistent with the actual language and original understanding of the Constitution. That way the Federal government wouldn't even be considering getting involved in trying to ensure that everybody gets health care and wouldn't be doing a whole lot of other things it's doing, the states would be sovereign, and the everyday lives of people would be subject to rules controlled to a much greater extent by their local and state governments....

[kalm]

...Of course the problem could also be solved by returning to a Federal government role consistent with the actual language and original understanding of the Constitution. That way the Federal government wouldn't even be considering getting involved in trying to ensure that everybody gets health care and wouldn't be doing a whole lot of other things it's doing, the states would be sovereign, and the everyday lives of people would be subject to rules controlled to a much greater extent by their local and state governments....

I have to admit, that's an interesting concept. Of course then everyone would be moving to more progressive states like Washnington and Oregon, and to put it bluntly, we don't need your shit.

[Baldy]

I have to admit, that's an interesting concept. Of course then everyone would be moving to more progressive states like Washnington and Oregon, and to put it bluntly, we don't need your ****.

Yeah, The People's Republic of Oregon.

One of the two states where the "Progressives" protect it's citizens from the inherent danger of pumping your own gas.

[houndawg]

I guess I need to do more research. The question of how efficient Medicare is isn't something I've ever tried to find out about before. But I did a Google on "Doctors dropping out of Medicare." Right off the bat, top of the "hit" list, was this article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993462778328019.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A quote:

"More and more of my fellow doctors are turning away Medicare patients because of the diminished reimbursements and the growing delay in payments."

Translation: "Medicare is becoming more and more difficult to bilk."

[native]

I guess I need to do more research. The question of how efficient Medicare is isn't something I've ever tried to find out about before. But I did a Google on "Doctors dropping out of Medicare." Right off the bat, top of the "hit" list, was this article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993462778328019.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A quote:

"More and more of my fellow doctors are turning away Medicare patients because of the diminished reimbursements and the growing delay in payments."

Translation: "Medicare is becoming more and more difficult to bilk."

Even if true, your point is not related to Doctors dropping out of Medicare. Thanks for making another ridiculous post.

[Grizalltheway]

I have to admit, that's an interesting concept. Of course then everyone would be moving to more progressive states like Washnington and Oregon, and to put it bluntly, we don't need your ****.

Yeah, The People's Republic of Oregon.

One of the two states where the "Progressives" protect it's citizens from the inherent danger of pumping your own gas.

Nice red herring, Baldy. What does that have to do with how the state is run as a whole?

[BDKJMU]

All of our doctors take Medicare, and always have. Medicare has made great strides in paying timely - they have now become the most efficient payor. And with a majority of plans paying at Medicare or near Medicare rates, you have to operate your practice efficiently as well to make good money, but it is acheivable.

Now if the 21% rate cut takes effect permenantly, then that proposition becomes much harder.

Bummer, there goes Wednesday golf.

Bummer, there goes old folks getting health care...

[Skjellyfetti]

Bummer, there goes old folks getting health care...

You want old folks getting federally subsidized health care? Isn't that socialist fascist communist socialism?!

[houndawg]

Bummer, there goes old folks getting health care...

You want old folks getting federally subsidized health care? Isn't that socialist fascist communist socialism?!

It's Islamo-facist socialism without a birth certificate!

[Baldy]

Nice red herring, Baldy. What does that have to do with how the state is run as a whole?

It's the irony. They will let you kill yourself (assisted of course) but won't allow you to pump your own gas.

You're not competent enough to dispense gasoline into your car, but you have the mental capacity to end your own life?
Moronic.

[BlueHen86]

Nice red herring, Baldy. What does that have to do with how the state is run as a whole?

It's the irony. They will let you kill yourself (assisted of course) but won't allow you to pump your own gas.

You're not competent enough to dispense gasoline into your car, but you have the mental capacity to end your own life?
Moronic.

It's really confusing for the guy who wants to off himself by dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself on fire.

[CID1990]

The saddest part to all of this is that even many suppporters of this bill concede that it is a mess, and yet we still passed it in the name of 'reforming healthcare'. We have gotten to the point that we will knowingly allow total poltical disingenuousness in the name of political capital. We slapped the reform label on a piece of sh!t without trying to disguise it as a steak, sold it as a steak, even though the people who bought it KNEW it was a piece of sh!t.

It was like slapping a Mercedes tag on a Yugo and then successfully selling it to a Mercedes dealer.

Plain awful.

[houndawg]

It's the irony. They will let you kill yourself (assisted of course) but won't allow you to pump your own gas.

You're not competent enough to dispense gasoline into your car, but you have the mental capacity to end your own life?
Moronic.

It's really confusing for the guy who wants to off himself by dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself on fire.

Yeah, you have to get somebody else to douse you.

I had a grandmother who left this world in that manner, but she was in California so I guess it wasn't an issue.

[houndawg]

The saddest part to all of this is that even many suppporters of this bill concede that it is a mess, and yet we still passed it in the name of 'reforming healthcare'. We have gotten to the point that we will knowingly allow total poltical disingenuousness in the name of political capital. We slapped the reform label on a piece of sh!t without trying to disguise it as a steak, sold it as a steak, even though the people who bought it KNEW it was a piece of sh!t.

It was like slapping a Mercedes tag on a Yugo and then successfully selling it to a Mercedes dealer.

Plain awful.

Gotten to the point? We've been there for decades.

[Chizzang]

The saddest part to all of this is that even many suppporters of this bill concede that it is a mess, and yet we still passed it in the name of 'reforming healthcare'. We have gotten to the point that we will knowingly allow total poltical disingenuousness in the name of political capital. We slapped the reform label on a piece of sh!t without trying to disguise it as a steak, sold it as a steak, even though the people who bought it KNEW it was a piece of sh!t.

It was like slapping a Mercedes tag on a Yugo and then successfully selling it to a Mercedes dealer.

Plain awful.

[houndawg]

The saddest part to all of this is that even many suppporters of this bill concede that it is a mess, and yet we still passed it in the name of 'reforming healthcare'. We have gotten to the point that we will knowingly allow total poltical disingenuousness in the name of political capital. We slapped the reform label on a piece of sh!t without trying to disguise it as a steak, sold it as a steak, even though the people who bought it KNEW it was a piece of sh!t.

It was like slapping a Mercedes tag on a Yugo and then successfully selling it to a Mercedes dealer.

Plain awful.

I think you're on to something.

You know, Laura Bush never did look very happy.