Queen Nancy unveiled her new version of Placebocare today. Amongst the more than 1900 pages is a nice little gem:
Under Pelosi’s bill, anyone earning up to 150 percent of the poverty line will be eligible for Medicaid. This is an increase on previous iterations?and the Senate bill?which only covered people up to 133 percent of the poverty line.
I can’t tell you for sure, how many additional people this is going to put into the Medicaid ranks. I have read various reports suggesting that the total numbers will increase 20% to 30%.
Medicaid? We’re relying on an expansion of Medicaid to get more people health care? I seem to remember that there were concerns about Medicaid….what were they? Oh yeah, I remember!
According to Medicalnewstoday.com, in 1996-1997, 29% of solo practitioners did not accept Medicaid. In 2004-2005, that number had increased to 35%. The same analysis showed that group practitioners rejected Medicaid at the rate of 16% and 24% in the respective years. The total number of practitioners who rejected Medicaid was less than 13% in the first period and 14.5% in the second.
Healthcarefinancenews.com reports that in a recent survey, 35% of all medical offices now refuse medicaid while only 17% refuse Medicare.
Why is it that more physicians are refusing Medicaid? There’s a simple answer:
84% of physicians who did not accept new Medicaid patients in 2004-2005 said reimbursements were a factor; 70% of physicians said billing requirements and paperwork were a factor; and two-thirds said delayed payments were a factor (HSC release, 8/17).
Let’s see if I have this right. Nancy’s plan significantly increases the number of people on a program that has fewer care providers each year. For the rest of us, her plan lowers the reimbursements, increases the requirements and paperwork and will further delay or deny reimbursement payments.
If the definition of insanity is to repeat the same action over and over and expecting a different outcome, then Nancy Pelosi and anyone who supports her version of Placebocare certainly fit the definition of insane!
