Obama Calls for Vote on Medicare ‘Doc Fix’

Gee, one would think that would have been in the massive health care bill. OHHH, that’s right…Obama HID this cost and now he needs to shove it through!!!
WE WILL REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER. LIAR IN CHEIF IS OUT IN 2012.

Mr. Smartest Clueless Prez. bo – you can use your “smartestness” one more time: resign.
It would be your Smartest decision for your country, and you will be remembered for generations for your Greatestness to realize your limitations in this job.

Ha! Everything Obama says about this problem is going to be caused 100-fold by his health care system. Gee… cut doctor pay, remove competition, force them to see patients they don’t want to see, and you’ll lose services, doctors, and good care. What do you think is going to happen when his entire crackpot socialized medicine system kicks in around 2014???
I’ll tell you want’s going to happen. The Gov’t will wake up to the reality that you cannot “force” people to provide services for a price less than they are willing to work for. They will find themselves with a mess on their hands as doctors quit, or insurers scream that they cannot pay the bills, or the Federal Gov’t plan will have to skyrocket its rates and costs to keep the system actually functioning. Most likely a combination of all three.

Why doesn’t the President insist that the 2011 budget be presented ASAP?

Once again, “YOU LIE !!!” rings true. Words more true were never spoken.
This refrain will become the only appropriate response to his every comment in the 2012 elections and has already become his only lasting legacy.
Obama made this mess of our heath care system and should pay the full political price of his unending duplicity, whether that results in cutting other areas of the budget to offset this additional cost or actually making the cuts to doctors he and his Social Democrat Party demanded be included in Obamacare.
Like all honest Americans, I look forward to spitting on his political grave after November.

It would have been better just to get it right the first time around. Don’t do it if you can’t get it right the first time. Old adage biting you in the butt again.

Nothing else is big enough to actually matter.
Posted by: jhw539 | Jun 12, 2010 11:12:34 AM
How about increased tax revenue from putting America back to work?

He just passed a giant healthcare bill a couple months ago and he’s already back for billions more. This guy is as annoying as the bums begging for change down on the street corner.

How about increased tax revenue from putting America back to work?
MM | Jun 12, 2010 11:29:39 AM
Heh, I guess I asked for that. Perhaps I should have said “What OTHER THAN AN ENTIRELY MEANINGLESS BUMPERSTICKER SLOGAN should they do?”

Interesting analysis of the health care reform legislation per Rand, See Bloomberg, “Health Care Reform Bill Best Option: Analysis, The chosen plan will insure more Americans with least cost to government, think tank says”
Also see the June issue of Health Affairs, called “moving forward on health reform.”

Well…let me warn everyone right now what the Republicans hope to gain, if they choose to “block” this vote. Their main goal right now is to make sure the “misery index” stays very high on everday people like you and me. By doing that you will do what? You will get so “angry and emotional” you will; “backlash vote” them back into power because “you are ‘angry’ at the government” as it exists now. The Republicans are absolutely “bankrupt of leadership or positive ideas”, folks. If they do this – take it out on them this fall. As voters we need to wake up as to what is really going on…especially with health care. They are absolute masters at destroying the socioeconomic status of the middle class and then getting you/us to believe it is the “fault” of the opposition. WAKE UP!

As voters we need to wake up as to what is really going on…especially with health care. They are absolute masters at destroying the socioeconomic status of the middle class and then getting you/us to believe it is the “fault” of the opposition. WAKE UP!
Posted by: CND FOX | Jun 12, 2010 1:42:48 PM
Ain’t that the truth. Its said that it works so well.

all the little “incidentals” like the medicare fix.
Posted by: cindy | Jun 12, 2010 2:55:03 PM
You were always on the hook for doc fix and have been for many years. What other “all the little incidentals” are you referring to?

Obama lied using the savings for Obamacare. Now he doesn’t need to pass Obamacare but seniors are being turned down as patients because it costs the MD more to treat them than not, so now he wants a few lttle hundreds of millions more. Obama is an incompetent politician totally devoid of morality.

Task, of course we were on the hook for the fix..so why wasn’t it right up there..up front..you know, all transparent like we are always being promised? As far as the other incidentals, my personal favorite is the mandatory room for nursing mothers to express milk, that ALL companies with over 50 employees must put aside..and it can’t be used for anything else, can’t be a closet, can’t be part of the bathroom…like I said, open up your wallet! (and yes, I nursed 4 kids.)

Posted by: cindy | Jun 12, 2010 6:56:28 PM
The “Doctor fix” has been put in place by every Congress for well over a decade.
The large majority of those Congresses were Republican majorities. This is no ‘secret’ or ‘hidden’ element.

I have had a lot of medical problems of late and have been seen by a lot of doctors. EVERYONE OF THEM PREDIDICT “MAJOR SHORTAGES” OF DOCTORS WHEN THE NEW GOV HEALTH BILL GOES INTO EFFECT.
Posted by: Manitu | Jun 12, 2010 7:59:40 PM
One of the reasons the bill is being phased in over a period of years. This bill will create jobs for doctors and focus attention on more medical graduates. That’s what happens when you increase the level of health care for a country.

Dan, remember the big deal Obama made about putting the cost of the wars..upfront..and in the budget? Why then this slight of hand on health care? We knew this needed to be in the bill..so did he. Why the double standard? I cut my political teeth during the Bush years when my father started lecturing me on the spending that was going on..I was horrified..and became a vocal citizen-for all the good that did- this dishonesty from Washington cannot fly without a politically polarized populace..we are it, and they are taking advantage of us..again. We are arguing in our back yards while the feds are hotwiring our cars and driving them away.

“We are arguing in our back yards while the feds are hotwiring our cars and driving them away”
How about dumping long paying customers on the flimsiest of pretenses when they finally get ill and start filing claims, like the insurance companies were doing regularly? Now that is real theft.

Dave, perhaps you may want to check your facts.
You state that “The “Doctor Fix” has been put in place by every Congress for well over a decade. The large majority of those Congresses were Republican majorities. This is no ‘secret’ or ‘hidden’ element.”
The problem is that when Obama, Pelosi and Reid “cooked” the books on Obamacare deficit savings they assumed that the reductions would take place as the enacted law required. The CBO counted the reduction in payments to doctors as part of the “deficit reduction” credited to Obamacare for the first ten years.
So, if the Democrats knew the “Doctor Fix” would have to be put in place (as you suggest), why did they count it as “savings” in calculating the deficit reduction for the first ten years of Obamacare?
The answer is, if the hadn’t counted it as “savings”, Obamacare would not be able to claim any deficit reduction over the first ten years.
There is a letter from the CBO director, Douglas Elmendorf, to Representative Paul Ryan (dated March 19, 2010), stating that if the “doctors’ fix” was implemented the deficit would increase by $59B during the period 2010 – 2019. This is instead of the $124B reduction claimed by Obama, Pelosi and Reid.
They knew they were “cooking” the books on this deal. Without it they had no deficit reduction in the first ten years.
The fact is the President is a proven liar. In his plea for the Congress to pass the “Doctor Fix”, you will notice he forgot to mention there would be no deficit reduction from Obamacare in the first ten years. In addition to being a liar, he is also an absolute coward.

THE CANADIAN HEALTH SYSTEM IS IN BIG TROUBLE AND THEY HAVE ONR TENTH THE POPULATION OF US. OBAMA’S HEATH BILL WILL FALL OF IT OWN WEIGHT EVEN BEFORE IT IS FULLY IMPLEMENTED!!

I am a senior and I have an excellent private supplementary plan. It is expensive, but I never see a bill. No deductibles, no co-pay. Everythng is covered. This will be done away with when Obama care is fully activated. Talk about progress!!

This will be done away with when Obama care is fully activated. Talk about progress!!
Manitu | Jun 12, 2010 10:50:36 PM
Great, a satisfied customer of fully nationalized ‘socialist’ insurance (Medicare) complaining about everyone else getting the barest skeleton of what he now enjoys.

Discussion on this topic is pretty much academic. Current adm finnancial policies will cause a complete meltdown down the road, resulting in entitlement programs paying cents on the dollar – if that.

I agree with this entirely:
“But if Republicans went full bore to eliminate Medicare (rather than leaping to defend it tooth and nail as they actually did last year) then I might consider that maybe they had some sort of actual principled position against government insurance. And a desire to see the poor die of easily treated conditions like in much of the third world (or are you in favor of expensive free loading off of emergency rooms?). ”
BTW…The idea that there is going to be mass refusal to take Medicare patients just as the Boomers start to enter the program is misguided. Doc’s who claim this is going to happen are using a move from the Fox News playbook. Where are else are they going to get? Fine…go get your real estate licence, but I don’t think you’ll like the numbers there either. For most doc’s there isn’t a choice. Maybe if you’re a Pediatrician or Plastic Surgeon, but otherwise, it’s Medicare or bust. I particularly love the arguement that Medicare payments don’t cover overhead. HMMM…were you aware that there are two sides to the profit equation? Maybe that swanky suite in a brand new office complex wasn’t such a great idea…and it certainly wasn’t Medicare’s idea.

jhw539: “Republicans were the ones defending Medicare from even a single dollar in cuts during the health insurance reform battle. I guess the Republican caucus are just a bunch of liberal minded progressives in your world?”
For the most part, yes. Did you not catch the level of deficit spending during the Bush years? In terms of spending, with few exceptions, the parties are indistinguishable. Except that liberal Democrats like to spend even more. Obama has spent more in 18 months than Bush did in eight years. The 2010 federal budget is 50% DEBT and it’s currently estimated we’ll have a $19.6 TRILLION national debt by 2015 (which I’m sure is low).
Doesn’t matter. Our economy won’t make it to 2015 given the current rate of spending. It’s going to get ugly well before then. European countries are now taking their lumps, and so will we. It’s unavoidable.

Dear Mr. President:
Is there anything for which you do not blame someone else?
If you didn’t want the job you shouldn’t have run.

Some mind-boggling facts. In terms of current unfunded obligations:
Medicare: $75.6 TRILLION
Medicare Part D: $19 TRILLION
Medicare Part D’s obligations exceed Social Security’s by about $4.6 TRILLION (!). We’re talking about the prescription drug program that went into effect in 2006!
Net federal tax revenues collected annually: About $2 TRILLION.
Do the math.
Another interesting tidbit. Estimated Medicare fraud ranges from $50 BILLION to $100 BILLION annually. If Medicare were a private insurer, it would have gone bankrupt many years ago.
And yet progressives view Medicare as THE model of an efficient single-payer system.

“I don’t know, I guess I was under the misunderstanding that many people become doctors because they like helping people.”
Yes, doctors obviously like to help people. But this isn’t Cuba where doctors and plumbers each make $15 a month and live in abject poverty. In America, we expect to be compensated for going through the enormous expense and effort of becoming a doctor. It’s a high-value and sometimes very high-risk occupation that only a small fraction of our population can perform. Is there any question that we have the best doctors in the world here? If you remove incentives to allow doctors to earn what they’re worth, you’ll get a lot fewer doctors entering the field.
Aspiring doctors are smart people. And there are plenty of ways smart people can help others without going to school for many years and incurring $200,000 to $500,000 in debt that they’ll struggle to pay off with a low salary.

“You’re talking about the unfunded liabilities at a benchmark of something like 75 years. There is plenty of wealth in this country to eventually pay down our debts.”
Based on what analysis?
The current debt per taxpayer is over $118,000. The unfunded liability per citizen is over $352,000. They’re both rising.
Our current debt is $13 TRILLION. It’s expected to be $19.6 TRILLION by 2015. Our current federal budget is 50% debt and rising. Our debt is expected to exceed our GDP before 2012. Our deficit-to-GDP ratio is 11% and rising (the European Union only allows a max of 3% for their member countries before austerity measures kick in).
It gets better. The Congressional Budget Office projects that annual interest payments on the federal debt, currently less than $200 BILLION, will rise to nearly $1 TRILLION by 2020 (that’s 50% of our current tax receipts and 25% of our current budget). Some economists warn that CBO’s numbers are too optimistic and that the problem could end up being much worse.
There’s no way to get out of this mess without huge tax increases and/or severe cuts in federal spending. As for the 47% who don’t currently pay federal tax? They’ll soon be paying the piper as well, either directly or indirectly.

so while conservatives apparently cry about the debt all the time they show absolutely no sign of really wanting to actually do anything about it.
Posted by: Skip | Jun 13, 2010 1:40:54 AM
———–
Amen to that.

“I don’t know, I guess I was under the misunderstanding that many people become doctors because they like helping people.”
—
Amen to that, too.
Mayo Clinic pays medical doctors a fixed salary. From what I hear, they’re quality of care is excellent, and they tend to attract good doctors. Indeed, they are consistently ranked as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.
And it seems to me that there are always plenty of folks trying to work for the government, vying for seats in the House and Senate, hoping to be chosen for cabinet positions, on waiting lists to be a cop or fire fighter. Go figure.

the health policy blog at Mayo Clinic (prior to WSJ’s article, but worth mentioning…)
“Some recent media reports have inaccurately stated that Mayo Clinic in Arizona is no longer seeing any Medicare patients. This is not true.
Rather, a five-physician Mayo Clinic Arizona family practice clinic in Glendale, Ariz., has opted out of Medicare as part of a Mayo Clinic time-limited trial that will be reviewed at its conclusion…. Current Medicare patients may continue receiving primary care at the Glendale clinic but will be required to pay out-of-pocket for office visits….
…In many ways, Medicare patients are Mayo Clinic’s ideal patients – they match the strengths of Mayo’s practice. Medicare patients are typically dealing with multiple complex health problems, which many people face as they age.
Nevertheless, decades of underfunding and paying for volume rather than value in Medicare have led us to this decision. Providers who do fewer unnecessary tests and services are paid the least, and they are the doctors and hospitals which will go out of business first if we don’t change the payment system.
That is why Mayo Clinic strongly supports health insurance reform and health care delivery reform. Health care delivery reform in the patients’ best interests means changing the payment system to reward value — defined as better outcomes, better safety, better service and lower cost. Better value results in fewer tests and decreased overall costs.”
In regards to the last paragraph, ARRA delivered health insurance reform, and trial programs to work toward health delivery reform. I mentioned a RAND analysis and June’s issue of health affairs journal in a prior post. In Health Affairs, there is an article about how unsavy we are, in general, in regards to evidence-based medicine (see the right wing freak out over the release of information pertaining to breast cancer and mammograms) and we’ve all seen how unwilling any politicians are to touch Medicare.
Sacrifices will have to be made. The status quo is unsustainable and ARRA is only a first meager step toward what needs to be done. And Republicans didn’t even want to take that step.

The Next 250 Billion,to be added to the Health care total,already. That should put us over the Trillion with some to spare,and the bill has not taken full effect yet…. Talk about being lied to,no increase in the deficit,no increase in Insurance Premiums,Lower health care costs, All Lies and More Lies….. Sheeple wake up.

Doctors Group Sues AmeriChoice TOM WILEMON | The Daily News
Mid-South Imaging & Therapeutics PA, a hospital-based group of more than 30 radiologists, has filed suit against AmeriChoice, accusing the insurance company of “unfair and deceptive trade practices.” The complaint, filed last week in Shelby County Chancery Court, according to The Daily News online, http://www.memphisdailynews.com, alleges the insurance company made a “phantom offer” to the state in regard to doing business with Mid-South Imaging.
“Because AmeriChoice has not had an opportunity to review Mid-South’s lawsuit and its allegations, we are not in a position to comment at this time,” said Roger Rollman, a spokesman for AmeriChoice. AmeriChoice is one of two companies the state is contracted with to provide TennCare coverage in West Tennessee. The doctors from Mid-South Imaging provide radiology services to patients of Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp.
The lawsuit comes after back-and-forth negotiations between the physicians group, the state and the insurance company, which is a division of United Healthcare of Tennessee. The insurance companies are owned by parent company United Health Group Inc. The complaint alleges that AmeriChoice is paying only 50 percent to 55 percent of the lowest rate paid by any other “equivalent network provider,” which in this case is Medicare. Daniel Van Horn, the lawyer representing Mid-South Imaging (MSIT), wrote about the negotiations in the complaint. “Beginning in January 2009, MSIT complained to the state about AmeriChoice’s failure to make any serious offer,” Van Horn stated. “The state responded to the MSIT complaint by talking with AmeriChoice. AmeriChoice falsely told the state that it had made an offer to MSIT in the range of 78 percent of Medicare – a phantom offer that was significantly higher than the 50 percent to 55 percent offer that it actually made.
“Upon learning of the alleged significantly higher offer as reported to the state by AmeriChoice, MSIT wrote AmeriChoice a letter dated June 11, 2009, offering to enter into a contract with MSIT at the originally offered shockingly low 50 percent to 55 percent reimbursement rate.” The physicians group cannot refuse to take AmeriChoice because it provides radiology services to a hospital, according to the complaint. MSIT is seeking compensatory damages, a declaratory judgment that AmeriChoice’s actions constitute “unfair or deceptive trade practice” and an injunction against the insurance company in relation to its reimbursement rates