Comments on: SENATE VOTES ON HEALTHCARE RATIONING: Efforts to Oppose Defeated Along Party Lines http://www.aapsonline.org/newsoftheday/00199 from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:47:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: james a.m. smith, d.o. http://www.aapsonline.org/newsoftheday/00199#comment-2417 james a.m. smith, d.o. Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:07:21 +0000 http://www.aapsonline.org/newsoftheday/?p=199#comment-2417 Do you like the post office which has gone broke despite continuously raising prices for mail? Do you think that it is appropriate for 33% of healthcare costs to be related to processing, reviewing and repealing claims? Don't you think that one third of the cost which is now lost to administering healthcare would be better spent on actual healthcare? Does it make sense to charge $100 for a service only to have the cost cut to $59 or completely rejected by someone in a Medicare office who is 'only following the rules'? Granted there must be oversite of healthcare, but it gets VERY tiring when we are faced with defending our medical decisions because of regulations. Get ready for the worst which is yet to come. Government regulation of healthcare has led us to Medicare approved reimbursement, with decisions being made by high school graduates who are not physicians. We took an oath to provide service to our patients. Most of us do it in a conscientious manner. I don't know many colleagues who don't work very hard for a living. We take calls when we are not on call, we make decisions for which we may be sued and are at the mercy of our government to determine 'Medical Necessity'. The healthcare reform which may be coming is likely to be worse than the U.S. postal service-gone broke. Please let physicians be physicians and patient advocates, and make the decisions which are best for our patients. Help us to provide the medical care yet not be burdened by frivilous lawsuits, and the paperwork which is likely to consume even more of our time and resources. Do you like the post office which has gone broke despite continuously raising prices for mail? Do you think that it is appropriate for 33% of healthcare costs to be related to processing, reviewing and repealing claims?

Don’t you think that one third of the cost which is now lost to administering healthcare would be better spent on actual healthcare? Does it make sense to charge $100 for a service only to have the cost cut to $59 or completely rejected by someone in a Medicare office who is ‘only following the rules’?

Granted there must be oversite of healthcare, but it gets VERY tiring when we are faced with defending our medical decisions because of regulations. Get ready for the worst which is yet to come.

Government regulation of healthcare has led us to Medicare approved reimbursement, with decisions being made by high school graduates who are not physicians. We took an oath to provide service to our patients. Most of us do it in a conscientious manner. I don’t know many colleagues who don’t work very hard for a living. We take calls when we are not on call, we make decisions for which we may be sued and are at the mercy of our government to determine ‘Medical Necessity’.

The healthcare reform which may be coming is likely to be worse than the U.S. postal service-gone broke. Please let physicians be physicians and patient advocates, and make the decisions which are best for our patients. Help us to provide the medical care yet not be burdened by frivilous lawsuits, and the paperwork which is likely to consume even more of our time and resources.

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