May 19, 2015 I describe a new condition called Cadillac Health Care Syndrome. Those afflicted are relatively healthy people who have numerous diagnoses, take multiple medications and have frequent surgical procedures because they have excellent health insurance with little to no out-of-pocket expenses. Risk factors include early retirement, lack of hobbies, jobs with paid sick days, excessive television watching and overuse of the Internet to investigate symptoms. It has been widely assumed that better access to health care improves one’s health. Yet this is a relatively recent concept. For most of human history, patients were aware that allowing physicians to intervene had considerable risk. Hippocrates famous nostrum that persists in every physician’s conscience to this day is “Primo non nocere,” “First do no harm.” Most historians believe that George Washington died because of bloodletting. When President Garfield was hit with an assassin’s bullet in 1881, he died as a complication of surgery. In fact, the lawyer for the assassin argued that his client merely shot the President; his doctors had killed him. But with the advent of antibiotics, sterile technique, … [Read more...]
Obamacare is Forcing Doctors to Reveal Private Information on Our Patients
January 13, 2015 Obamacare is forcing us doctors to send the government reports on our patients’ personal lives. To understand how this is done, one must understand how doctors are compensated. Anytime you see a doctor, two codes are generated. One is a procedure code called a CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) code. The other is a diagnostic code called an ICD-9 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases – Ninth Version) code. There are literally thousands of procedure (CPT) codes that cover everything from routine examinations to ear wax removal. There are also thousands of diagnostic codes (ICD- 9), one for every known illness. Both of these codes are sent to the government agency and/or insurance company that pays the claim. No codes, no payment. It’s that simple. Under Obamacare, doctors were offered $40,000 each to convert to electronic medical records (EMR). The theory was that the improved efficiency in data consolidation and analysis would result in improved patient care along with epidemiological evidence as to the best way to treat certain diseases. In order to make sure that doctors used the EMR software properly, Obamacare came up with the concept … [Read more...]
Managed Care is a Scam
The recent merger between Aetna and the managed care company US Healthcare should convince the public once and for all that managed care is a scam. The multibillion dollar deal is part of the ongoing wealth transfer from the middle class to the super wealthy. The CEO for US Healthcare is taking home $1,000,000,000(Your eyes are fine. That's one with nine zeros after it.)along with a $25,000,000 corporate jet, $10,000,000 in stock options, and another $10,000,000 in consulting fees. Managed care has been successful because it has perfected the art of satisfying the vast majority of patients who are healthy while tormenting the sick minority with paperwork, 800 numbers, and bureaucracy to prevent them from obtaining care. Women and their infants are heaved out of the hospital 12 hours after birth. Patients with psychiatric disorders have their most intimate conversations perused by bureaucrats. But this merger is a precursor to a huge taxpayer rip off—managed Medicare. Medicare is the government program that cares for the elderly and disabled. It has been a huge success, increasing the quality of life for our elderly so that the United States now leads the world in life … [Read more...]