Dammit...hit send too fast... I have worked in several government agencies and the waste and bueracracy was pathetic. Sorry, but I can't imagine it would get any better if the gov't started running all healthcare.
On Friday, May 1, 2009, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: > Speaking from the caregiver side, Medicare is a joke. The > reimbursement rates are pathetic. I was told by a friend still in NJ > that some hospitals are considering dropping their paramedic units > because of costs -and it's tied, in a lot of places, to Medicare > reducing reimbursement rates in recent years. > > In the company I worked for as a medic Medicare patients accounted for > approx. 60% of our patients yet only about 35% of our revenue. It used > to be higher until Medicare reduced their reimbursement. > > I cannot recall the exact number, but we got less than $100 per call > from Medicare - regardless of what was done for the patient. If the > patient was in cardiac arrest that would not come close to covering > the costs of equipment, medications, salaries, etc for that call. > > On Friday, May 1, 2009, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 2:38 PM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Nothing run by the US government is 'low cost and high quality' >> >> A nice cannard but wrong. Government is not terribly good at all sorts >> of things. It is really quite decent for many things. If government >> was not, it would not exist or tossed out and reformed. People who >> believe the contrary just can't be bothered to pay attention. >> >> Medicare is a fine example of something that provides pretty decent >> results (could always be better of course) with costs that are >> surprisingly good compared to other options, especially when you >> consider the population they primarily serve. Now, if only they could >> take the Medicare example and figure out how to apply that knowledge >> to health care.... >> >> Its not like single payer healthcare is a new idea (I worked on it in >> the early 90's) nor is it unproven. It may surprise you to hear this, >> but it actually has been implemented by "governments" elsewhere with >> quite acceptable results. >> >> If you don't like the idea of government, that's fine. Spouting off >> stupid crap like "Nothing run by the US government is 'low cost and >> high quality'" isn't terribly useful in any actual policy discussion. >> It is demonstrably false and serves no purpose other than demonizing >> one side of a debate with rhetoric designed to inflame rather than >> educate. >> >> You have a medical background and could bring a nice dose of the >> reality of your corner of the healthcare world to the discussion. How >> does emergency medical fit into the overall picture of healthcare >> reform in the United States? This is important shit. Whinging about >> the generic "US Government" is not so useful. >> >> Judah >> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:296604 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
