As someone who works with Medicare and Medicaid daily, the prospects are frightening. If you have parents or loved ones that are seniors or are a senior yourself, you are going to get screwed to the wall.
Repealing Obamacare affects everyone - Jan. 2, 2017
If a doctor or hospital Agrees to accept Medicare, it's game over. They can't bill you or they can't accept Medicare.
Not if soon-to-be-HHS-Secretary Tom Price has his way. He wants providers to be able to balance bill Medicare beneficiaries.
Nonsense. The donut hole is still here. It hasn't gone away. And do you mean to tell me that my deductible will go up from $225 for the year??? Jesus Christ!!!
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According to 2012 AARP analysis of data from the Census Bureau, the average retirement income for Americans 65 and over was $31,742 -- 84% of those received Social Security, with 43.3 million of them getting an average retirement benefit of $1,298.98 a month. Social Security provides more than a third of income for many retirees, and retirees in the lowest income quintile count on Social Security for more than 80% of their income.
Does that mean if a doctor wants $1000 for a procedure but Medicare will only pay $800 the patient will be responsible for the remaining $200?
As someone who works with Medicare and Medicaid daily, the prospects are frightening. If you have parents or loved ones that are seniors or are a senior yourself, you are going to get screwed to the wall.
Repealing Obamacare affects everyone - Jan. 2, 2017
Does that mean if a doctor wants $1000 for a procedure but Medicare will only pay $800 the patient will be responsible for the remaining $200?
Key to this practice is something called "balance billing," and it's why the American Medical Association is strongly supporting Donald Trump's pick of Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare. Balance billing is forbidden for Medicare enrollees, but Price wants to allow it — thus allowing doctors and hospitals to devour the nest eggs of thousands of American seniors.
So what is balance billing? It's the practice of billing the patient for the difference between the sticker price and what insurance will pay. So if a hospital visit costs $1,000, but your insurance will only cover $300, some providers will "balance bill" you for $700.
In 2011, Price (an orthopedic surgeon himself) introduced a Medicare "reform" bill in Congress that, among other things, would have brought balance billing to the program. This would greatly increase provider and physician revenues, and the AMA eagerly lined up behind it. . .
Now, balance billing on Medicare would not be quite so horrible as it is for uninsured people. Physicians would still have to set up contracts beforehand setting an agreed price — they could not be simply be adjusted at will. But those contract prices are guaranteed to be vastly higher than what Medicare pays now. It will be akin to seeing an out-of-network provider on private insurance now, something that causes thousands of bankruptcies today.
Price has spent years arguing that physicians should be allowed to contract with Medicare patients on a fee and then bill them for additional charges that go beyond Medicare's allowable limits. The proposal has alarmed patient advocates, who say it would lead to surprise out-of-pocket bills for seniors. Price says it's necessary to keep doctors participating in Medicare, which typically pays lower rates than private insurance.
Not if soon-to-be-HHS-Secretary Tom Price has his way. He wants providers to be able to balance bill Medicare beneficiaries.
Nonsense. The donut hole is still here. It hasn't gone away. And do you mean to tell me that my deductible will go up from $225 for the year??? Jesus Christ!!!
If a doctor or hospital Agrees to accept Medicare, it's game over. They can't bill you or they can't accept Medicare. They know hospitals are going to stop accepting Zmedicare? Keep dreaming.
Quote me from your link. Let me refute the nonsense without reading 2000 words...
Basically, yes.
That depends on their coverage.
By law, a doctor must treat you if it's an emergency whether they take Medicare or not. And by law, if the allowable change for medicare is $500 for the service rendered, they are only allowed to charge 15% more. So in that case they could charge 575.00. If the patient's coverage includes Part B Excess charges, then it's covered. If not, they are on the hook for it.
Gallup also shows 24% of Americans think the ACA will make their future healthcare better, 36% worse and 37% no effect. What ever happened to the old medical axiom of "Do no Harm."
Nonsense. The donut hole is still here. It hasn't gone away. And do you mean to tell me that my deductible will go up from $225 for the year??? Jesus Christ!!
BINGO! Someone that actually knows how it works, .
Not if their policy covers Part B Excess charges. Such as a Medicare Supplement Plan F.
This law was one the majority of Americans didn't want to begin with and the majority still don't want it. It was forced upon, those in favor will say passed with roughly 38% of Americans for it, 53% against it. Passed, forced, regardless, the election of 2010 showed those who passed the ACA what they thought about. 63 house seats lost, lost because the Democrats went against the wishes of the majority of Americans by telling them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. The polls from 2009 and 2010
Below are the polls thanks to RCP of public opinion on the ACA when the Senate passed it in November of 2009 National 38.2% for, 52.6% against:
CNN/Opinion Research 12/2-12/3 36% for 61% Against/Oppose +25
Rasmussen Reports 11/29 - 11/29 41% for 53% Against/Oppose +12
Gallup 11/20-11/22 44% for 49% Against/Oppose +5
Ipsos/McClatchy 11/19 - 11/22 34% for 46% Against/Oppose +12
Rasmussen Reports 11/21 - 11/22 38% for 56% Against/Oppose +18
FOX News 11/17 - 11/18 35% for 51% Against/Oppose +16
PPP (D) 11/13 - 11/15 40% for 52% Against/Oppose +12
Below are the polls thanks to RCP of public opinion on the ACA when the House passed it in March of 2010 National average 38.0% for, 53.1% against
Bloomberg 3/19 - 3/22 38% for 50% Against/Oppose +12
CNN/Opinion Research 3/19 - 3/21 39% for 59% Against/Oppose +20
CBS News 3/18 - 3/21 37% for 48% Against/Oppose +11
Rasmussen Reports 3/19 - 3/20 41% for 54% Against/Oppose +13
Quinnipiac 3/16 - 3/21 36% for 54% Against/Oppose +18
Democracy Corps (D) 3/15 - 3/18 40% for 52% Against/Oppose +12
FOX News 3/16 - 3/17 35% 55% Against/Oppose +20
Today, Gallup shows this forced/passed law is helping 18% of Americans, hurting 29% of all Americans and no effect on 51% of Americans.
More Americans Negative Than Positive About ACA | Gallup
Gallup also shows 24% of Americans think the ACA will make their future healthcare better, 36% worse and 37% no effect. What ever happened to the old medical axiom of "Do no Harm."
Wrong they can and do bill you, that is why even on Medicare you must have supplement insurance, to take care of that overlap.
The Medicare Part B Deductible is currently 183.00. Keep in mind, that the Part B coinsurance is an 80/20 cost share with no annual cap. If the patient has a 200,000 doctor bill, he or she is on the hook for 20% or 40k.
Medicare Advantage Plans put an annual out of pocket cap which starts around 7K (This differs slightly from state to state.) Some MA Plans are Zero Premium. The general rule rule is the more per month you pay, the lower the cap. And they are a good play if you are healthy. For those that are not, a Medicare Supplement is the smarter choice. More money for sure, but the coverage is far more comprehensive in most cases.
A Plan N in WA Sate is around $135 a month. That $200,000 doctor bill would be entirely covered. (Plan omits Part B excess, Plan F, about 200.00 a month, includes it)
https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/costs-at-a-glance/costs-at-glance.html
Polls also showed that people didn't like health care the way that it was. You left out the part where they were against Obamacare AND the current system.
As to "do no harm," logic would tell me that I have no more than 2 years to find a job just for the health insurance that they provide, because I'd be about a million dollars in debt 10 years from now without health insurance. Before Obamacare, I had to choose between being healthy and in debt or having money and being disabled. Awesome, go back to the way it was. It will literally ruin my life. But "do no harm" was meant to apply to your bank account, right? Because money is the most important thing in the world.
when it comes to Medicare, polls are basically worthless.
Seniors by and large do not comprehend Medicare in the least. Many do, but in my experience, most do not.
I thought we were talking about repealing Obamacare, not Medicare. If you're on Medicare, you don't need Obamacare.
Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting the necessary supplement. My ZVERY bad.
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