oh yaa. Self-promise to trim by 1.5%…that’s like filing their fingernails to them. Sorry. This is my industry and I know how they do it. It can be way better.

Is the news yukky enough? I know I am very tired…..but it all looks pretty ugly. To wit: the bombings, the torture, the Cheney, the tax loopholes and shelters. Maybe because we have turned the corner on the past 8 years (meaning I am 8 years older) the stench seems really strong with more & more being uncovered. I am glad the book salon yesterday had notes of hope and optimism.

And we use their numbers as self-verification? Oh, I so totally trust that.

Mmmm hmmmmm.

I believe I heard where the NYS AG leveled huge penalties on a health insurance co. for paying bonuses to staffers who successfuly denied coverage to customers who really had the coverage. There were other fraudulent activities too. Sorry no linky

Here is another NYS investigation underway
http://www.hospitalbuyer.com/g…..raud-2134/

Given how “creative” accounting practices have become the last few years — ENRON being a prime example — I no longer trust internal number crunching without some substantial outside oversight. And even then (ENRON again being a prime example), there need to be substantial safeguards and doublechecks in place for accountability.

Hell, even big med doesn’t know how their billing $y$tem works. Recently I got into dispute over a gargantuan hospital bill with one of America’s leading hospitals. I wrangled on up thru the bureaucracy about it. They continued to threaten suit. Finally, I came to my senses and said:

“Please sue and be prepared on a quantum meruit basis to prove it.You know, the services you provide don’t come with a price tag attached. And, anything my client signed on admittance, while semi-conscious and in a gurney, I am sure the jury would be most interested in.”

Soon thereafter it was settled for about 40%. There is no reasonable basis for what they charge. They make it up. If you compare what certain procedures cost from one hospital to the next, it is eye opening.

My God Christy! What is that photo? I can handle your skepticism, but, Lordy, what am I supposed to do with that image?

Couldn’t figure out an appropriate pix for this one, so I went with Fellini-esque. Somehow, it just felt so right… *g*

Amazing how when you sit them down and force them to justify some of those charges they suddenly want to talk settlement, isn’t it? Love the quantum meruit argument. Genius.

Okay, then. It’s also comforting to know that there are worse things than death. Odd that I can feel better by something so hideous. Thanks, Christy. *g*

Funny, I of course had much the same reaction…..I was alittle timid though ’cause I can’t quite tell what that is at the end of the arm and pointing at us ;-))

Great post, and responses. I haven’t read the “proposal”, yet, but my knee-jerk reaction to the headlines was pretty much, “yeah, right.”

oldgold – congrats for your smart approach to the hospital bills. You are so right, that they don’t know what they’re doing, that they make it up.
When my ex had spinal surgery a few years ago, though most of it was covered by insurance, he examined the bills carefully, and found a couple of instances where the same item/service was charged twice. They took those off promptly on having it pointed out.
But for folks who don’t/can’t double-check, imagine how much of that kind of thing gets through.

btw – I’m baack – (bet you didn’t notice I was missing-no don’t say anything!). My computer, in the shop for a month, turned out to be well and truly fried. Unrepairable.
This news, fortuitously, arrived a few days after a small check came for my (very small) retirement from my last employer. (I’m not officially old enough to take a distribution without penalty, so they distributed it.)
Anyway, the upshot is, I’m the happy owner of a brand-new laptop! I’ve never owned an actual new, out-of-the-box computer – always hand-me downs, or my ex used to build them himself. (He did a pretty good job, especially for the price, but there was always something that didn’t work, or not quite as it should…)

Anyway, I’ve MISSED you guys! Even when just lurking, FDL and other blogs were what kept me sane. Hard to get that benefit AND do the resume-sending, job-hunting, social networking thing in the one hour a day allowed on the library computers. (but bless the library anyway).

O Gee: And OT: Just heard Ms. Palin called party “luminary”. Guess you have to take what you can get. Arrrgh.

More of the same

Geezuz, wtf is the difference between Barack “Two Face” Obama’s policy and George “the Lesser’s” policy?

Self regulation yada, yada, yada. We’re going to look at them sternly if they “over charge.” And who decides if they over charge? We’re going to shame them into being fair? Whaaaaa???????

He expects us to believe he’s doing something in our best interest when they don’t even talk to single-payer advocates, which if given a serious platform for debate would show a savings in the billions if not hundreds of billions or trillions?

This proposal is disingenuous and duplicitous at best

Paul Krugman today. No more need be said.

Of course we can trust the drug companies to self-regulate.
Because nothing says integrity like setting up fake medical journals to peddle their crappy medicines.