The 2 physicians in the Senate have started their own show to answer questions and their input is important, they are doctors with first hand experience. Like most physicians in the US I’m sure they are worried about how they will get paid, this is the big unknown that has all MDs very uneasy and with good points, as if there is a Government Plan created, how will they get paid and will they stand to lose more income.
Actually I had a video of Senator Coburn from last year on the blog and you can view it here and listen to what he had to say a year ago with Congress operating like they did in the 50s.
They are right on the money as far as the red tape, just having finished doing some billing myself this morning. The average patient has no clue on the red tape and administration involved today for a visit to the doctor. Senator Coburn is right on the mark with personal health records and talks highly of Google Health and HealthVault. This is a broadcast of the latest episode. What was also neat to hear too is that they answered a question about reading the entire bill, “read it on an e-bill”, they know they don’t have to carry around a few pounds of paper to do this and with technology you can search and read selected portions as you desire, paper, much harder to do.
They field a lot of questions and as you can see below they are using social media outlets to make the information available. Again, the big issue with doctors is compensation, otherwise I don’t believe you would see what we are experiencing today with a mixed field of reactions.
My commentary here, if a government option is not brought in for choice, all physicians had better get their web cams, electronic records, and participation with carriers to a bigger degree ready. You would have to be living under a rock to not understand that the insurance industry is profit driven and it is all for the stockholders, sad, but they way everyone thinks today, evidenced by the huge profits, this will be pushed at both doctors and patients at an accelerated rate with a sink or swim implementation. Look at what UnitedHealthCare is doing, they are making more money from their technology these days than collecting premiums, they get fined, pay off, and just keep on moving.
They are the only carrier that doubled their profits from last year and just recently absorbed a bit portion of HealthNet after out bidding them on the Tri-Care contract. They are involved in every entity of healthcare and are becoming one big monopoly, so without a challenge, it’s business as usual. In short they need competition and/or regulations or we will have no choice, healthcare will be run their way and I don’t even think Congress sees this to the extent that it should be. They have many subsidiaries and one may not always know they are working with a subsidiary of United.
UnitedHealthCare CEO – “Our Shareholders Will Prosper”
“Stephen Hemsley, the CEO of UnitedHealth, is not intimidated. "Leading companies take advantage of disruptive change in the marketplace," he told reporters recently. "Our shareholders will prosper."
Again, they are somewhat fearful of the unknown of the government telling you what you can have and what you can’t have and that those decisions should be between the patient and doctor, which everyone agrees on, with the exception of 2 entities, portions of the government and of course “the insurance companies’ as they already do that today and have for years. Payers get penalties they pay out of their big bank rolls and keep on moving. We have no vote with private companies, a government plan does at least give us a vote. BD
Senator John Barrasso, M.D., and Senator Tom Coburn, M.D., are seeking your questions as Congress debates health care reform. We want you to be a part of this important debate. Send us your questions and comments by e-mail, Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter. Senators Barrasso and Coburn will respond to some of them in future episodes, which air every Tuesday and Thursday at 5 pm EST.
Senate Doctors Show - Republican.Senate.Gov
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