Obamacare, Healthcare, etc.

[mallister]

4 days on a vent is also generally 4 days in ICU/CCU, along w/ everything that goes with it.

[Tyche]

ICU beds are priced separately per night, usually $4,000-$5,000. I work critical care. I'm an RN.

[mallister]

yeah not disagreeing w/ you or anything. it ain't pretty.

[Kurokikaze]

ICU beds are priced separately per night, usually $4,000-$5,000. I work critical care. I'm an RN.

^ me when I read your comment...

[Talint]

Obamacare is going to cost way less than anybody thought

I trust Ezra Klein for this kind of stuff.

[Plow]

Obamacare is going to cost way less than anybody thought

I trust Ezra Klein for this kind of stuff.

Nope, something something insurance companies hate people, something something rupert got it repeated everywhere that competition can't drive down prices (MAKES PERFECT SENSE FROM THE BIGGEST PROPONENTS OF "FREE MARKET" IN THE WORLD) for long enough that it's a fact now.

[Plow]

In seriousness, it's shocking how people don't seem to realize that one of the biggest reasons for high medical costs in the U.S. is that it's a been competition between patients for the right to receive insurance/treatment.

Guy with the most money/best existing health conditions wins. Guy with bad health/little money... what incentive is there to reach out to them?

The entire point of the mandate and exchanges is to make it purely a competition between the providers for the privilege of providing service. In particular the exchanges serve the same purpose as the esurance concept of forcing competitors to actually compete instead of just pretending they are.

[kuronosan]

Now if other industries would follow suit....

[Kurokikaze]

Obamacare is going to cost way less than anybody thought

I trust Ezra Klein for this kind of stuff.

I tend to trust the Wonkblog on matters of healthcare/taxation/monetary policy.

[Kohan]

South Portland doctor stops accepting insurance, posts prices online

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — Dr. Michael Ciampi took a step this spring that many of his fellow physicians would describe as radical.

The family physician stopped accepting all forms of health insurance. In early 2013, Ciampi sent a letter to his patients informing them that he would no longer accept any kind of health coverage, both private and government-sponsored. Given that he was now asking patients to pay for his services out of pocket, he posted his prices on the practice’s website.

The change took effect April 1.

“It’s been almost unanimous that patients have expressed understanding at why I’m doing what I’m doing, although I’ve had many people leave the practice because they want to be covered by insurance, which is understandable,” Ciampi said.

Before the switch, Ciampi had about 2,000 patients. He lost several hundred, he said. Some patients with health coverage, faced with having to seek reimbursement themselves rather than through his office, bristled at the paperwork burden.

But the decision to do away with insurance allows Ciampi to practice medicine the way he sees fit, he said. Insurance companies no longer dictate how much he charges. He can offer discounts to patients struggling with their medical bills. He can make house calls.

“I’m freed up to do what I think is right for the patients,” Ciampi said. “If I’m providing them a service that they value, they can pay me, and we cut the insurance out as the middleman and cut out a lot of the expense.”

Ciampi expects more doctors will follow suit. Some may choose to run “concierge practices” in which patients pay to keep a doctor on retainer, he said.

Gordon Smith, a spokesman for the Maine Medical Association, wasn’t so sure, saying most patients either want to use the insurance they pay for or need to rely on Medicare and Medicaid.

Even with the loss of some patients, Ciampi expects his practice to perform just as well financially, if not better, than before he ditched insurance. The new approach will likely attract new patients who are self-employed, lack insurance or have high-deductible plans, he said, because Ciampi has slashed his prices.

“I’ve been able to cut my prices in half because my overhead will be so much less,” he said.

Before, Ciampi charged $160 for an office visit with an existing patient facing one or more complicated health problems. Now, he charges $75.

Patients with an earache or strep throat can spend $300 at their local hospital emergency room, or promptly get an appointment at his office and pay $50, he said.

Ciampi collects payment at the end of the visit, freeing him of the time and costs associated with sending bills, he said.

That time is crucial to Ciampi. When his patients come to his office, they see him, not a physician’s assistant or a nurse practitioner, he said.

“If more doctors were able to do this, that would be real health care reform,” he said. “That’s when we’d see the cost of medicine truly go down.”

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/05/2...prices-online/

[BaneTheBrawler]

that's... actually pretty cool. i hope it works out for him long-term. It also might start a movement among insurance companies to be more user-friendly.

[kuronosan]

That is the doctor I would want to be.

[Waraji]

The doctor I've been going to for over a decade, often time waives the burden of his patients deductible by paying it himself, essentially costing his patients 0 per visit. Everything else is as regular though, but its very good of him. Anyone can walk in appointment with him just about any time of day, just have to wait for anyone already waiting, and always get to see him.

[Ksandra]

good stuff +That time is crucial to Ciampi. When his patients come to his office, they see him, not a physician’s assistant or a nurse practitioner, he said.

Do not get me wrong, I know nurses go through a lot of training, but it sometimes scares me how "little" one sees of a doctor nowadays. There's the "oh shit serious stuff" doctors and then there's the doctors who almost seem like a nurse supervisor.

[Talint]

Health Plan Cost for New Yorkers Set to Fall 50%

[Plow]

Health Plan Cost for New Yorkers Set to Fall 50%

“It’s not bargain-basement prices, but we’re going from Bergdorf’s to Filene’s here.”

fucking new york, lol

[ringthree]

that's... actually pretty cool. i hope it works out for him long-term. It also might start a movement among insurance companies to be more user-friendly.

It's one of those really pretty pictures that would fuck over the middle-class where one of the main benefits from their job is health insurance.

Edit: Shit, olde, sorry.

[archibaldcrane]

fucking new york, lol

Yeah someone posted that on FB the other day and I quoted that same passage, holy fucking NY inside baseball lol

[Kohan]

It's one of those really pretty pictures that would fuck over the middle-class where one of the main benefits from their job is health insurance.

Edit: Shit, olde, sorry.

The thread's alive, so I don't consider this a necrobump or anything like that. Consider yourself forgiven.

[ringthree]

Here is something more relevant and recent.

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/07/18/new-s...surance-costs/

Those are savings over the already CBO projected savings.