When ideology trumps compassion
President Barack Obama outlined another $313 billion in cuts to government health care spending over 10 years, largely impacting hospitals, as he hunts additional dollars to pay for expanded coverage for the uninsured.
Some major health industry groups swiftly criticized the proposal in one of the clearest signs yet that the industry is bristling at White House plans to overhaul the nation’s health system.
The new proposals would decrease payments to hospitals and others that provide Medicare services in a variety of ways.
So, you old folks, you just stop getting medical care, OK? Suck it up and deal with it. You’re old news, a drain on the treasury, a mess Obama doesn’t want to clean up.
“We are disappointed to see cuts of this magnitude to hospitals, especially in these tough economic times,” said Alicia Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the American Hospital Association, the industry’s main trade group. The proposed cuts would hurt hospitals that provide intensive, pediatric and trauma care for recipients of Medicare and Medicaid, she said.
You poor folks need to suck it up and go away, too. You’re insignificant flies in the ointment of Obama socializing the health care system.
In addition, the president is proposing to reduce subsidies for hospitals that care for the uninsured as the number of uninsured falls. That would generate $106 billion over a decade, the White House said. Payments would be slowed beginning in 2013. By 2019, payments would be 25% of what hospitals had received in 2013, updated for inflation.
“If more Americans are insured, we can cut payments that help hospitals treat patients without health insurance,” the president said.
This clearly shows that Obama does not understand how insurance works. So, a person has insurance, and goes to the hospital. They pay some sort of deductible. Guess who will picks up the rest? Apparently, Obama thinks the hospital will pick it up, but, nope, sorry, President Neophyte who has never had a real job so obviously doesn’t understand exactly how insurance works, that is not the answer. So, if it is government providing the insurance, guess who will pay for the rest, whether it be a visit to the hospital, an emergency clinic, or a doctors office?
Anyone else think this will cause an increase in people going to the hospital for a cold? That is one of the (many) causes in increased costs. This is why many companies are going to health savings and/or flex plans, so that people stop treating hospitals as their doctors office. If people think “the government will pay for it” then why not just go to the hospital when the mood strikes?
My company went to health savings plans for management a few years ago, and is going that way for bargained employees, which the union did not like. My deductible before co-pays kick in is $1,100. If I hit that, I will have spent around $450 more then with the previous plan. This includes prescription medication, too. Now, I rarely get sick or hurt, but, things happen. So, I quickly learned that WalMart completely ROCKS for prescription meds costs when I had an issue with TMJ, and there is a nice, middle class family clinic that is very low cost. I told others, and now they do the same.
Without incentives, people will abuse the government insurance and just hit the hospital, especially as more and more doctors drop medicaid and medicare, and won’t accept the government insurance.
Meanwhile, a New York Times reporter, Jackie Calmes, does some investigation, which is subsequently buried on page A20. Of the New York edition. On a Saturday. Many in Congress Hold Stakes in Health Industry.
