Repealing Obamacare - What are the consequences?

Bob Laszewski's review of what might happen if Romney were to win the presidency and make good on his promise to repeal or defund the Health Care Reform law (PPACA), is a concise analysis of some of the difficulties with either scenario and the unintended consequences.

Usually the Congress attempts to fix troublesome aspects of larger pieces of legislation, rather than this "all or nothing" stance that seems to prevail now.  "All or Nothing" is usually not a realistic scenario.

A lot of money has already been spent implementing this law, and more is on the table in both the public and private sectors.  Will all of that be for nothing?  Bob raises many issues and questions that need to be considered.  I could only hope that Mr. Romney might read Bob's blog post . . . .

Read Bob's Article here . . . .

The Ridiculous Cost of Health Care

This article by Brian Klepper through "Care and Cost" online, is very good summary about health care costs & potential ways to begin normalizing them.  He begins by describing his own personal experience with an outpatient procedure and how ridiculous the charges were for a diagnostic procedure. 

I have just gone through major surgery myself - the bills are beginning to roll in & even with good insurance (which I've never used, because I was always healthy), the costs and then the 'adjustments' to those costs are mind boggling.  I've only received the billing for the preliminary "outpatient" procedures that were simply to get a diagnosis and I'm sitting at about $3000 so far (that's MY expense after all insurance discounting & adjustments were made to the ridiculous, original charges).  I'm bracing myself for the in-patient hospital stay and the major surgery bill . . . .

Will the Bubble Burst?

Managing Health Care Bills & Understanding Costs

This is a nice, concise article from the Washington Post with some key elements to managing the cost of your healthcare.  Our confusing system often leads to lack of understanding and can sometimes generate overpayment by many patients.

Read the Article here . . .

13 States Cut Medicaid To Balance Budget

Here is the just the beginning of the state's activities surrounding Medicaid and the actions that will be a direct result of the Supreme Courts' ruling on this particular piece of the health care law. 

If Medicaid is used as simply a budget reduction tool, the states that use it as such, may find themselves with a different type of crisis down the road that could prove more costly.  Medicaid funds pay for much of the long term care coverage in this country - that's nursing home care primarily - and with the population aging, people living much longer and pensions being almost non-existent for the generations to come, cuts to Medicaid could be devastating long term.

Read the article for yourself below:

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2012/July/25/medicaid-cuts.aspx

Interactive Map of how states are Implementing Health Care Reform

Here's an interactive map that illustrates how the states are implmenting the Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  Interesting to view the differences.

Interactive Map

Patients in the Dark on Medical Costs, Study Finds

Wow - do yout think???  I've always encouraged my clients to shop for things like big tests, like  MRIs and Colonoscopies.  If you can get an anwer at all, what I find is that variances between facilities can be larg e.  For MRIs, it can vary $500 -- $1200 for the one test depending on where you go. It's ludicrous that in America we got to get medical services and either never ask what things cost, or just assume we'll find a way to pay.  do we do that at restaurants? NO!   Many medical tests are unnecessary anyway & they scare people into getting them - no questions asked.  There should be uniform 'base price' lists for certain procedures & that's it - very simple.  Read about the ABC broadcast about this issue here:

Patients in the Dark on Medical Costs, Study Finds

Docs Unhappy with Health Care Reform

Interesting snippet about how doctors are feeling about health care reform and regulations in general.  There is a lot of anticipated anxiety from physicians about the pending measurement system that will determine Medicare payouts based on "results" rather than the current fee for service model.  To date, no one is sure how measurements will be determined and how disparate groups of physicians can be compared to one another.  I'm sure that we'll see much more related to these issues in the coming months.  Stay tuned . . . . .

Docs unhappy with Health Care Reform