Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Quick Links: Snoopers, Mandates, Medical Ghetto

The 7/11/2011 American Medical News discusses, "Why HHS abandoned 'mystery shopper' study". Short answer -- because of the public comments they received.

Most doctors are very upfront about the fact that they cannot afford to accept unlimited numbers of government patients. As the article notes:
...71% of family physicians are accepting new Medicare patients, according to a September 2010 study. Physicians also were asked how Medicare payment cuts would impact their practices. Nearly 75% said they would limit Medicare appointments, and 62% said they would stop accepting new Medicare patients.
We don't need mystery snoopers to learn this.

In the 7/10/2011 PajamasMedia, Rick Richman discusses "ObamaCare, ObamaCars, and Government-Mandated Broccoli".

Brian Schwartz at PatientPower notes that Medicaid is becoming the medical equivalent of a "ghetto" for poor Americans.