Re: Re: Effect of National Health Care on Private Practice Physical Ther

[Guest guest]

This is incorrect. There was a federal deficit for many, many years before

Reagan.

Carroll , PT

Chattanooga, TN

Re: Effect of National Health Care on Private Practice

Physical Ther

Adam,

I think you are also forgetting that Reagan and the federal

government also ran up the largest deficits up until our current president.

Up until Reagan, US Fiscal policy was to run a balanced budget.

We're still paying for that and will be until our great great grandchildren

are paying. If we were not paying on 9 TRILLION dollars worth of debt, we

could EASILY help provide health care coverage for EVERYONE.

The current presidential candidates are not talking about socialized

medicine. You need to read more closely. They are talking about government

subsidized healthcare. Most of the candidates are talking about requiring

employers to provide insurance or to provide health insurance buying pools -

getting the best rates and benefits for the largest majority of our people.

Health insurance companies will still be around ... being required to be

not-for-profit may hit their CEO's and shareholders in the pocket slightly,

but allow the rest of us to do our jobs better. Why does the CEO of United

HealthCare rate a 7 million dollar salary (not couting bonuses)? He runs a

HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY. His company should be helping people stay healthy

or get healthy. When PA Blue Cross and Blue Shield split up in 2003 they

had 1 Billion in cash holdings. Did they expect every one of there insured

to need liver transplants or extensive ICU care? Not-for-profit insurance

companies are already mandated by state law in Minnesota. Every major

insurance company has a not-for-profit division that works there. No one is

leaving Minnesota for healthcare in Iowa, Wisconsin, or North Dakota.

Do you understand that our current healthcare system is putting our auto and

other largest manufacturers out of business. The cost of the health care

they provide to their employees is causing their products to be over-priced

in the markets. When these companies cut employees or have to cut benefits

to cut costs, where do those folks get insurance? They wind up as part of

that 45 million without or the 1 in 3 (of the non-medicare population) that

have done without over the last 4 years.

Suprisingly, the government has done a pretty decent job with Medicare. Is

it an HMO? Last I checked, it wasn't. Is medicare limiting their number of

providers? Again, last I checked, No. Does Medicare continually try to cut

costs? Yes, like any good business model to stay viable. Do we as

therapists need direct access to medicare patients? Of course we do. Does

the cap need to go away? yes it does.

Do I have all the answers? I wish I did. Maybe I'd be in Washington making

big money. Or some insurance company lobby might be paying me to keep my

mouth shut. Who knows. For now, I'll keep pressuring my congressperson,

senators, and state government to try to do what's right for all of us.

My 12 cents.

Lindberg, PT

Avista Adventis Hospital

Louisville, CO

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PTManager/message/42065;_ylc=X3oDMTJyaDIxYXNy

BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzExMDA3ODEEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYxMzQ3BG1zZ0lkAzQyMDY1

BHNlYwNkbXNnBHNsawN2bXNnBHN0aW1lAzEyMDA2Mjg1Mzg-> Re: Effect of National

Health Care on Private Practice Physical Ther

Posted by: " Adam Jeschke " <mailto:phoenixzorn@...?Subject=

Re%3A%20Effect%20of%20National%20Health%20Care%20on%20Private%20Practice%20P

hysical%20Ther> phoenixzorn@...

<http://profiles.yahoo.com/steakisdone> steakisdone

Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:46 am (PST)

There is a Constitutional Amendment that forbids us to refuse anyone " Health

Care " ... it is " Health Insurance " that people do not have, and that is not

guaranteed by the Constitution, nor is it within the Constitutionally

Granted Powers of Congress to impose such legislation on this country. You

should have taken the $90-120,000 a year job, because you'll be paying more

in taxes - already close to 50% of annual income for our practice - in order

to support the 45 million+ people we have to supply with " free " National

Health Insurance. Let me reiterate.... it is 100% illegal for you, me, or

anyone in the medical profession to turn someone away because they don't

have health insurance. You can inform them of your cash-pay policy, do

pro-bono work as you see fit, but you can't refuse their care outright.

That is guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States of America.

I suppose those of you who support the idea of a national healthcare system

- read:

socialized-single-payer-taxpayer-funded-government-regulated-health-insuranc

e-that-we-can't-afford-in-its-current-state-of-medicare-and-medicaid

- also support the idea of supplying that same health care to illegal

aliens, no matter where they might be from, North, South, East or West...

The current system in place is financially bankrupt right now, just as

Social Security is financially bankrupt, and both programs are taking this

country further into debt with the rest of the world, because we can't

possibly contribute more than is being taken out of the funds to pay for

services. On that note, I'd guess that you also support the idea of

allowing illegal aliens to vote in our elections.

Socialist programs are the fastest way to completely destroy the

infrastructure of a country. The UK is losing money every day because of

their healthcare system, Sweden has all but done away with their Welfare

System, as it nearly bankrupted the entire country. I would expect those of

us in private practice - small business owners especially - would want the

government to stay as far away from our industry as possible. The only good

thing the government can do to improve the economy, get more people to pay

for health insurance and/or healthcare, and bring more business into our

clinics - which should be read as more patients being helped rather than

more revenue, because I honestly don't care about money, but I don't want

the government to take any of it for the benefit of the masses - is to get

out of the way and let nature take its course.

The greatest economic boom in this country was in the early 1980s, when

Reagan was president... he didn't pass any new spending bills, he cut

taxes, he got the government out of the way, and the economy of this country

skyrocketed. It is sad that people have become so used to the government

interfering in everything we do that they've forgotten that the government

is supposed to serve the people, the people aren't supposed to serve the

government, but that's where we are going if things like Nationalized Health

Plans are implemented. We're already slaves to the Federal Reserve, Social

Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and now you want to add on another 45+

million people because you think people should be guaranteed health

insurance.... Self-imposed slavery is an ugly beast, and we've done it to

ourselves by not putting a check on everything our government feels like

doing this week, and over the last 50-75 years.

Like I said in my first post, it's 100% impossible for our clinic to

participate in any HMO insurance plans in the area because they cater to

hospitals only. I was specifically told that there are no free-standing

physical therapy clinics in the network of one of our local plans, and that

I could apply but we would be denied access to the HMO network because there

is a hospital-owned clinic less than a block away from us. When the

government takes over, I hope you have planned to either see only " Cash "

patients, or have lined up a job at a local hospital-owned clinic, because

unless you are in an area where you have such a huge understaffing of PTs

that every free-standing clinic is already in network with all the local

HMOs, you won't be seeing many insurance patients outside of Medicare.

Heh... you think the therapy cap is bad now, wait until every person (man,

woman, and child) in the country is all in the same network, and the

government can't tax us enough to cover the costs.... that, or the

reimbursement rates will plummet, and we'll be driven out of business

because we just can't afford to pay the rent anymore.

I hope no one takes anything I've said as a personal insult, I just find

that many people who like the idea of Nationalized Health Care, don't

realize that Health Care - not Health Insurance - is already guaranteed in

the Constitution, and once they realize this they often change their tune.

Adam Jeschke

Optimal Physical Therapy, LLC

Lake Mills, WI