Healthcare: They Know Not What They Do…

[jonrussell.us]

Healthcare: They Know Not What They Do …

With a 60-40 Partisan Vote, the U.S. Senate Takes a Major Step Closer to Passing Healthcare Reform

The following is my response to yesterday’s Cloture Vote in the U.S. Senate, which ended debate on the Healthcare Reform Bill.

###

Healthcare is not a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Yet these politicians, in the U.S. Senate, act like the Constitution does not exist, granting this right to their specified segment of the population. As a result, the present majority in the U.S. Senate will gain a new class of government dependents, expanding their political base for the next election cycle.

Presently, private healthcare clinics are not taking any “new” Government funded Medicaid patients and very few, if any, are taking new Medicare patients. With this Healthcare Reform Bill adding millions of new government healthcare recipients, how are small clinics expected to stay in business with these reimbursement rates? Medicare & Medicaid reimbursement rates to physicians are usually 30-40 cents on the dollar for services rendered. Just because people will have access to government funded healthcare does not mean they will have access to a medical provider. Emergency Rooms, which are already the money pit of hospitals, will be clogged up even further, as a result of this Healthcare Reform Bill. Obviously, this will continue to drive up costs for the rest of us and will, most likely, force some hospitals to close.

Only lawsuit (Tort) reform, individualized healthcare plans, across-state-border insurance competition and removing the healthcare insurance industry from anti-trust exemptions will stop the rising cost of healthcare.

As the owner of an urgent and family care clinic, this bill strikes at the very heart of my business. At Columbia Gorge Medical Center we see Medicare and Medicaid patients exclusively from East Clark County. We were forced to limit our volume of patients by geography due to the overwhelming demand resulting from other providers not accepting government funded patients. In addition to accepting privately insured patients, we provide basic healthcare for the uninsured, covering the related costs through partnering with our patients and local charities and/or churches. And, we do so very efficiently. This serves as a great example of what can be done in the private sector that the government could never and sadly would never, dream of doing. Healthcare: They Know Not What They Do …

With a 60-40 Partisan Vote, the U.S. Senate Takes a Major Step Closer to Passing Healthcare Reform

The following is my response to yesterday’s Cloture Vote in the U.S. Senate, which ended debate on the Healthcare Reform Bill.

###

Healthcare is not a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Yet these politicians, in the U.S. Senate, act like the Constitution does not exist, granting this right to their specified segment of the population. As a result, the present majority in the U.S. Senate will gain a new class of government dependents, expanding their political base for the next election cycle.

Presently, private healthcare clinics are not taking any “new” Government funded Medicaid patients and very few, if any, are taking new Medicare patients. With this Healthcare Reform Bill adding millions of new government healthcare recipients, how are small clinics expected to stay in business with these reimbursement rates? Medicare & Medicaid reimbursement rates to physicians are usually 30-40 cents on the dollar for services rendered. Just because people will have access to government funded healthcare does not mean they will have access to a medical provider. Emergency Rooms, which are already the money pit of hospitals, will be clogged up even further, as a result of this Healthcare Reform Bill. Obviously, this will continue to drive up costs for the rest of us and will, most likely, force some hospitals to close.

Only lawsuit (Tort) reform, individualized healthcare plans, across-state-border insurance competition and removing the healthcare insurance industry from anti-trust exemptions will stop the rising cost of healthcare.

As the owner of an urgent and family care clinic, this bill strikes at the very heart of my business. At Columbia Gorge Medical Center we see Medicare and Medicaid patients exclusively from East Clark County. We were forced to limit our volume of patients by geography due to the overwhelming demand resulting from other providers not accepting government funded patients. In addition to accepting privately insured patients, we provide basic healthcare for the uninsured, covering the related costs through partnering with our patients and local charities and/or churches. And, we do so very efficiently. This serves as a great example of what can be done in the private sector that the government could never and sadly would never, dream of doing.