Comments on: The State of Healthcare http://www.joetaxpayer.com/healthcare/ Financial Commentary For The Average Joe Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:56:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Elle http://www.joetaxpayer.com/healthcare/comment-page-1/#comment-8446 Elle Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:35:56 +0000 http://www.joetaxpayer.com/?p=1825#comment-8446 Bobo, did you read the New Yorker article? It is not about prescribing medications. It is about doctors ordering unnecessary procedures because they have a financial interest in the profits of the facilities doing the procedures. This practice is legal. As for single payer vs. the multi-layered, multi-horizontal current system, I think only a biased party would assert that the current system is cheaper than single payer. The math is undeniable. Bobo, did you read the New Yorker article? It is not about prescribing medications. It is about doctors ordering unnecessary procedures because they have a financial interest in the profits of the facilities doing the procedures. This practice is legal.

As for single payer vs. the multi-layered, multi-horizontal current system, I think only a biased party would assert that the current system is cheaper than single payer. The math is undeniable.

]]> By: The BoBo http://www.joetaxpayer.com/healthcare/comment-page-1/#comment-8434 The BoBo Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:57:11 +0000 http://www.joetaxpayer.com/?p=1825#comment-8434 Well - I'm not going to take each of those points from Elle and break it all down for everyone because that would be an entire post in and of itself. First, I have been in the healthcare industry on all sides for the last 18 years. I was a claims processor for an insurance company, a billing manager for a national clinical laboratory, a litigation consultant on qui tam lawsuits for one of the Big 5 firms when there were five, and now I am a compliance officer for the largest primary care group practice in Florida. Other than the fact that everything Elle stated is completely inaccurate, I would just like to point out that regarding her assertion under #2 - what she suggests regarding physicians overprescribing because they are on commission - in case no one is aware of it - that is illegal. Not only are the pharmaceutical industries under strict regulations regarding kickbacks - so are the physicians. There are numerous laws - The Stark Law, The Anti-Kickback law, The PhrMa code, and many many more that I can name. Physicians are not on commission from the pharmaceutical industry. They are indeed paid a base salary - and many earn an annual or quarterly bonuses based on various financial incentives - none of which have anything to do with pharmaceuticals. The pharmacy industry isn't even allowed to offer rebates or discounts any longer because they have the appearance of being a kickback. Anyway - just wanted to put in my two-cents from someone who has been around for a while and actually knows what the Federal and State laws say. I won't even get in to her comparison of a single payor plan to the private industry. She is so far off it's not even funny. Well – I’m not going to take each of those points from Elle and break it all down for everyone because that would be an entire post in and of itself. First, I have been in the healthcare industry on all sides for the last 18 years. I was a claims processor for an insurance company, a billing manager for a national clinical laboratory, a litigation consultant on qui tam lawsuits for one of the Big 5 firms when there were five, and now I am a compliance officer for the largest primary care group practice in Florida. Other than the fact that everything Elle stated is completely inaccurate, I would just like to point out that regarding her assertion under #2 – what she suggests regarding physicians overprescribing because they are on commission – in case no one is aware of it – that is illegal. Not only are the pharmaceutical industries under strict regulations regarding kickbacks – so are the physicians. There are numerous laws – The Stark Law, The Anti-Kickback law, The PhrMa code, and many many more that I can name. Physicians are not on commission from the pharmaceutical industry. They are indeed paid a base salary – and many earn an annual or quarterly bonuses based on various financial incentives – none of which have anything to do with pharmaceuticals. The pharmacy industry isn’t even allowed to offer rebates or discounts any longer because they have the appearance of being a kickback.

Anyway – just wanted to put in my two-cents from someone who has been around for a while and actually knows what the Federal and State laws say. I won’t even get in to her comparison of a single payor plan to the private industry. She is so far off it’s not even funny.

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