$716 Billion Cut to Medicare meant to reduce Profits

As the Medicare political battle continues it's Seniors and People with Disabilities who are the pawns. Paul Ryan maintained that the changes [by ObamaCare] will force one of every six hospitals and nursing homes to go out of business and end Medicare Advantage — an option that allows the elderly to buy coverage from private insurers — for 4 million seniors.

The biggest and most contentious Medicare cuts total $415 billion. They come in the form of smaller annual increases in federal payments to hospitals, skilled nursing services and others providing goods and services to Medicare’s 50 million beneficiaries.

It's meant to keep private insurance from making excessive profits from Federal monies. Experts are divided on what difference the cuts will make, in part because they will only slowly be phased in over the next decade. It’s also just hard to know when the government is paying providers too much, said Joe Antos, a health-care economist at the American Enterprise Institute. “If we’re paying somebody too much, they don’t tell us,” Antos said. “I know, shocking.”

We need a system to determine the average cost of a particular procedure.  Today we have no idea.  Here in Tampa, FL, if you ask the local hospitals the price for an appendicitis each hospital gives you a different price range.  None are willing to disclose their fees.  This has to end!

Source:
canadafreepress.com
hhs.gov/recovery/programs/os/cerbios.html
go.bloomberg.com/p