The easiest way to rein in Medicaid costs: don’t pay the hospitals anything.
It’s hard to fathom that a state government could literally delay paying claims for Medicaid enrollees whose bills it is liable for. It’s true that some companies negotiate with suppliers to pay for inventory 30, 60 or even 90 late. If the state negotiated with hospitals and agreed to a specific deadline, I would not have a problem with a negotiated arrangement. This, however, sounds like fiscal mismanagement.
The Social Security Administration is planning to purchase 174,000 hollow point bullets.
The SSA has 295 special agents, each of which apparently needs 590 bullets for their .357 magnum revolvers. That’s a lot of bullets for agents, who you would expect to never have a need to discharge their gun. Furthermore, the old .357 magnum revolver is about as outdated as the program design incorporated into Social Security.
I had no idea that the SSA had armed federal agents. I find this disturbing.
It comes as no surprise to me that Blue Cross / Blue Shield still can’t get their act together. Well, actually does. I would think after the negative publicity they have gotten in the past, they would have at least tried.
If Maine keeps trying to get doctors to work for free, I bet pretty soon it will be as hard to find a doc in Maine as it is in Alaska, per your posting yesterday.
By education, Americans with some college lost the most, with incomes falling 9.3 percent, followed by an 8.6 percent slump for those with associate degrees, the report said. Those without high school degrees lost the least, falling 5.3 percent.
Those who know a trade or craft seem to be faring the best. Everyone needs someone to cut their hair, take care of their plumbing, or fix their car.
Maine’s healthcare system has many problems. The state is planning on letting its expansion to childless non-disabled adults expire. This will “save” Maine $22M but will also remove $37M in federal matching, and perhaps push those adults into more expensive emergency care.
Hospital complaints about insurers: Denied claims. Low reimbursement. Late reimbursement. Thickets of red tape.
Hospitals and insurers have a love/hate relationship. Yet, each depends on the other. Hospitals want as much money as they can get out of insurers; while insurers want to pay out as little as possible. Hospitals try to attract insured patients by offering services and amenities. Insurers try to combat fraud and abuse by dragging out the payments (a tactic that doesn’t seem to bother enrollees). The arrangement is dysfunctional; the people ultimately paying for the service of both hospitals and insurers (i.e. mostly workers) don’t even know they are the ones paying the bill. There is little doubt why the arrangement is dysfunctional.
The easiest way to rein in Medicaid costs: don’t pay the hospitals anything.
It’s hard to fathom that a state government could literally delay paying claims for Medicaid enrollees whose bills it is liable for. It’s true that some companies negotiate with suppliers to pay for inventory 30, 60 or even 90 late. If the state negotiated with hospitals and agreed to a specific deadline, I would not have a problem with a negotiated arrangement. This, however, sounds like fiscal mismanagement.
The Social Security Administration is planning to purchase 174,000 hollow point bullets.
The SSA has 295 special agents, each of which apparently needs 590 bullets for their .357 magnum revolvers. That’s a lot of bullets for agents, who you would expect to never have a need to discharge their gun. Furthermore, the old .357 magnum revolver is about as outdated as the program design incorporated into Social Security.
I had no idea that the SSA had armed federal agents. I find this disturbing.
It comes as no surprise to me that Blue Cross / Blue Shield still can’t get their act together. Well, actually does. I would think after the negative publicity they have gotten in the past, they would have at least tried.
If Maine keeps trying to get doctors to work for free, I bet pretty soon it will be as hard to find a doc in Maine as it is in Alaska, per your posting yesterday.
Those who know a trade or craft seem to be faring the best. Everyone needs someone to cut their hair, take care of their plumbing, or fix their car.
Maine’s healthcare system has many problems. The state is planning on letting its expansion to childless non-disabled adults expire. This will “save” Maine $22M but will also remove $37M in federal matching, and perhaps push those adults into more expensive emergency care.
– http://www.mejp.org/PDF/preserving_mainecare.pdf
Hospitals and insurers have a love/hate relationship. Yet, each depends on the other. Hospitals want as much money as they can get out of insurers; while insurers want to pay out as little as possible. Hospitals try to attract insured patients by offering services and amenities. Insurers try to combat fraud and abuse by dragging out the payments (a tactic that doesn’t seem to bother enrollees). The arrangement is dysfunctional; the people ultimately paying for the service of both hospitals and insurers (i.e. mostly workers) don’t even know they are the ones paying the bill. There is little doubt why the arrangement is dysfunctional.
Who knew the SSA had an enforcement branch… Seems redundant considering the FBI, State Police, and other agencies look for SSA fraud as well.