"Treating physicians...cannot be trusted with this sort of discretion” said the legal counsel battling over Medicaid for Children in Florida who wants to cut the budget…

I write many posts about not forgetting how to be “human” and this article certainly states a need for that reminder. It speaks loud and clear of being concerned with only money and I hope this guy never needs a doctor after his quote as he may be hard pressed to find one with the belittling comments below. Again, this is a picture of what is happening in health care in some areas.

“Treating physicians cannot be trusted”? It really sounds like this individual has lost it and need some anger management and I find the comments appalling and he’s talking about care for children, and I might take guess that maybe he doesn’t have any. There is the thing called negotiation as well. But like many individuals in the pressure cooker he’s popped and and perhaps afraid of losing his job? He might be best to limit his interactions with those that are either not children or doctors. Again, I have never heard such disrespect and cold callused remarks. BD

Can a state Medicaid program cut treatments to a child if a doctor says they are medically necessary? Three states, including Florida, say yes, and made that argument this week before a federal appeals court in Atlanta.
The child in question is Callie Moore, who lives in North Georgia. Her mother sued Georgia Medicaid when it cut home-health nursing hours from 94 to 84 a week. A U.S. district judge said the state could not cut the hours since Callie's doctor deemed them necessary. (Read coverage of the case by Fulton County Daily Report.)

"Treating physicians...cannot be trusted with this sort of discretion," Senior writes. "When left to their own devices, they advocate for their patients and deem all manner of unproven, dangerous, ineffective, cosmetic, unnecessary, bizarre, and controversial treatments as 'medically necessary.'"
He continued: "Case law provides examples of treating doctors claiming medical necessity and attempting to bill Medicaid for: cosmetic procedures; sex-change operations; (unapproved) drugs; abortion on demand; 'treatments' that have never been proven to work; and round-the-clock nursing and personal assistance for patients who obviously do not need it..."

http://www.floridahealthnews.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11400