My goal when I started medical school was to get my degree then return to California to start my practice. Returning to California is still the end goal, but click right here for an article pointing out that we are losing many great Doctors in our Great State due to the low rate of reimbursement for patients on MediCare or lacking insurance altogether.
At what point, as a society, do we say that healthcare should be ensured for all humans AND that those who provide the services should be reimbursed fairly? I even find myself at a hospital in NYC right now that is in danger of closing due to bankruptcy in the next couple weeks. Why? Well, there are many reasons, but one of the main reasons is that the hospitals operate in areas where the population is mostly poor and can't afford insurance. Rather than turn them away, as most private hospitals have the right to do in NYC, we accept them and care for them...apparently to our detriment.
Regardless of your views on universal healthcare, I think we can all agree that the current system is broken. And ultimately, it will lead to problems for all of us as more hospitals shut down or more Doctors leave areas where they are not profitable.
In case the link above didn't work, here is the web address for the article (copy/paste):
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/emergency-room.html
There are problems on many levels. (BTW...this is just information that I've heard over the years of working in hospitals)
ReplyDeleteIssue #1 (NYC hospitals that can turn away people?) Actually, they can't. From what I know, if a hospital has an ER, they must accept Medicare. That is one of the stipulations of JCAHO/EMTALA, or whatever government faction that controls that issue. And if a hospital has an ER, they cannot turn away anyone, regardless of insurance, nor can they provide different levels of services to people who have insurance vs those that don't have insurance. That being said, I think a lot of hospitals and their staff "forget" that rule. If they are in fact in violation, they can be fined, or worse yet, closed down.
Issue #2 (The docs in CA) The issue here is actually local, i.e. not so much Obama but your congressmen and senators. OK, so it's not really local. Regardless, if your congressmen, senators or lobbyists aren't strong proponents for health care reimbursement, then your docs aren't going to get paid. That's pretty much it. So, CA, being the behemoth that it is, should really up the ante and have their politicos start voicing their concerning about low reimbursements. I think the reason why the midwest has such great Medicare reimbursement is because of their lobbyists.
(Sidenote: I've heard that our leaders of this great nation don't get Medicare like us regular people. Rather they get some sort of kick ass coverage when they get old, so, really, what do they care about Medicare?)