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, Mon, 12 Jun 2006 21:38:51
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SWEDECAR - Unfortunate point of view, I would say. And lacking in facts. For your information, doctors do not charge for all their time, sometimes not even half of it. And then only a portion of what is billed is reimbursed. Something nothing is reimbursed. I talked to a doctor the other day who spent four hours arranging for a patient to be admitted to the hospital for a life-saving procedure, and reimbursement is not allowed for any of that time. That's right - work half the day to keep someone from going down the tubes, and don't get a penny. Raise your right hand if you're willing to do that on a regular basis. I think it's a general rule that the greater the complexity of the case, the less that reimbursement follows the amount of time spent.
To make an analogy between medical insurance (especially Medicre) and auto repair, suppose a customer came to you, and you wanted to help them. You really wanted to help them, and you knew you could. However, with their payment setup you couldn't bill for both the diagnostic work and the procedure of installing the new part. If you billed for both, the greater of the two charges (or all but the lesser charge) would be disallowed. And then they only reimbursed a fraction (for Medicare, 15 to 25%) of what you were allowed to bill. You could bill and receive payment for the parts separately, but some of them would be reimbursed below your cost, if the patient had government-sponsored auto repair insurance. In the end, you hope that customers with non-government insurance make up for the money you lose. If that's not possible, then you close your doors. If you doubt this, look at how many small medical practices and small hospitals are closing. (Note that this situation applies only to the US; I hear that reimbursement is better in countries like Sweden and Canada, for government-sponsored medical care.)
I think a more realistic point of view, regarding the skill of doctors vs. their billing, is that there are good and bad doctors out there, just like every other profession. Maligning all doctors, is just as inaccurate and hasty as maligning all auto mechanics. All of us have had bad experiences with mechanics from time to time, but we don't malign the entire profession.
posted by 216.165.158...
, Mon, 12 Jun 2006 21:38:51
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