Think there’s a Unicorn under that manure pile that will soon be passed? Investors.com has some information about what’s actually in the bill. Brass tacks, and all that.
With House Democrats poised to pass the Senate health care bill with some reconciliation changes later today, it is worthwhile to take a comprehensive look at the freedoms we will lose….
11. If you are a physician and you don’t want the government looking over your shoulder? Tough. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to use your claims data to issue you reports that measure the resources you use, provide information on the quality of care you provide, and compare the resources you use to those used by other physicians. Of course, this will all be just for informational purposes. It’s not like the government will ever use it to intervene in your practice and patients’ care. Of course not. (Section 3003 (i))
Well, I feel much better now.
So if this is all true, or even 1/2 true, where were the physicians during this debate? Where was their alternative legislation?
Matt if you’re saying physicians were represented very poorly through all this, I doubt you’ll get much argument.
Ah, paranoia.
Seriously, this strikes me as a *good* thing. If you find out you are failing on quality, wouldn’t you *want* to know? If it turns out that you are ordering 2 standard deviations more CTs than similar docs, wouldn’t you *want* to know that? Of course numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt, since an ER doc at a trauma center will order more CTs than a rural doc, etc. But Medicare already does this with the BESS data, so it’s not terribly new, just more precise in its implementation.
Will it someday be linked to compensation? Quite possible. Will *that* be a good thing? I dunno — it will depend on the quality of the data and how it is used. P4P is going to be part of our lives, and if this allows more meaningful/rational P4P that might also be good.
Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me!
I suspect you’re not paranoid enough.
When an insurance company limits me, I have some alternatives (like, look into other insurance companies…). When my government limits me, I have no recourse (I cannot get a different government).
Before you tell me that won’t happen, google around a bit for governmental screwups and how they’ve wrecked peoples’ lives.
But, we’re in the very best of hands, so no worries! Wow, I feel the Change. I Hope it doesn’t crush me.
The real question is what will be the role of private money in the system. What we are not getting with this bill is NHS style care that outlaws the use of private funds. Provided that we continue to have available supplemental insurance based on the purchasing power of the individual there will still be plenty of room for personal choice in health care for those that can afford it. If not then those that can afford it can purchase studies independently.
Oh, I’m apprehensive. I view P4P with a deep skepticism. it’s a much more serious threat than the cited provision in HCR — and this was all going on in advance of and independent of HCR. if (and what a big if that is) it’s well-implemented then there is a real promise of improved quality and cost of care. I’ve not seen a whole lot of evidence that it will be well-implemented.
But the HCR provision cited is so far just for information, and information can be useful. They’re already linking quality to compensation, so better to be armed with data for the next round!
This was the key to the socialist agenda. We have lost our Republic.