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Obamacare is a Financial Disaster

Obamacare

As Obamacare continues to decimate the American healthcare system, few media outlets highlight the facts about this ever growing problem. Though Obama claims his new law (which he enforces on an imperial, piecemeal basis) is a success, the truth is much different. When you break down the over 8 million enrollees signed up by the plan, you will quickly realize that over 5 million of them are on the federally funded Medicaid program. Then, with regard to the remaining 3 million, it is uncertain how many actually paid their premiums and how many needed this insurance because they were kicked out of their previous health plans due to the Affordable Care Act. A recent article in The Business Insider sums up the economics of Obamacare: Of the 5.45 million people who signed up through the federal exchange, 5.18 million (or 95%) applied for financial assistance in their insurance plans. As a businessman and physician, I can sum up these numbers in a very easy way:

  1. Only a very small percentage of patients enrolled through Obamacare are actually paying for it

  2. Our government has created a new and massive bureaucracy to manage Obamacare

  3. We can’t afford the Medicaid program which has been expanded another 5 million people

  4. Few doctors actually accept Medicaid, leaving the “newly insured” without true access to the healthcare system

  5. We can’t afford the Medicare program

  6. Where do we get all this money needed to pay for 2 programs we can’t afford and a new program, Obamacare, that is financially unsustainable?

The financial truth about Obamacare is that it is an economic disaster. Many think the Tea Party and Conservatives are against it just because they are displeased with Obama. The truth is, most of them understand that the health insurance programs created by our national government are financially unsustainable and will eventually bankrupt our country. We are in 18 trillion dollars of debt already. Where will this madness end?

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MERS cases Triple in Last Month and a Half

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To quote a recent MedPage report by Michael Smith, the total number of cases of the Middle East coronavirus has nearly tripled in the past month and a half, according to the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC).

But those cases do not include new cases reported today from Saudi Arabia, which recorded another six patients and three deaths. That brings the nation’s own totals to 520 cases with 163 deaths, up nine and three respectively. Also, it does not include the Illinois hospital worker who contracted the virus without showing signs of infection.

Saudi Arabia is followed in number of cases — although not closely — by the United Arab Emirates, which has recorded 67 cases and nine deaths, according to the ECDC. Seven other countries in the region have a total of 24 cases and 12 deaths.

Other regions — Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas — have seen a total of 19 cases and seven deaths and all patients have had primary epidemiological links to the Middle East.

The exact number of cases is a moving target and has been dogged by delays in reporting. The World Health Organization, for instance, reported Thursday it had been officially informed of just 572 laboratory-confirmed cases, with 173 deaths.

While the virus continues to cause several cases a day in Saudi Arabia, the risk for people outside the Middle East is said to be extremely low. However, 22 U.S. airports are now displaying signs that warn of the virus.

Returning travelers, the agency says, should monitor their own health and see a doctor if they have respiratory symptoms within 2 weeks of coming home. Importantly, they should call first and mention the travel history so the doctor’s office can ensure that proper precautions are taken.

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More Hospitals Laying off People or CLosing

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Remember the day when new hospitals were being built and greater health services were being created every day? Remember when it wasn’t such a fight to get what your insurance owed you, the services that were recommended or the prescriptions the doctor’s gave you?

Unfortunately, there has been a complete unraveling of our medical system, with Obamacare being the final straw. As reimbursement continue to plummet and the expectation of services rise, many hospitals are left either closing their doors or laying of their employees. With less hospital workers or worse yet, less hospitals, care for the sicker patients of our communities is being decimated by the day.

Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines had to lay off 29 people this week. The president of the medical center said that this is a direct effect from both Obamacare and cutting Medicare benefits.

“As the federal government and state payment systems continue to ratchet down on what they pay us and our costs go up, we have to look for opportunities to create cost efficiencies,” the president of Mercy Medical Center said. “And one way you do that is you reduce your management costs. So if we have a department that has a director and a manager and two supervisors for let’s say 75 staff, we may remove one of those positions to what we say are the layers of management.”

Here is the biggest question: if the federal government can’t afford Medicare expenses, how can they afford a multi-trillion dollar Obamacare plan? I’m not an economist but I can do simple math. Obamacare + Increased Medicaid + Increased federal spending + Increased Federal Giveaways + Increased Americans on the Federal dole + the costs of Michelle Obama’s vacations = more debt = more dependence on China = A DECLINING AMERICA.

Will this be the epitaph of our country? I don’t know but there is one person who wishes it to be– Obama.

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Healthcare Systems Going Bust

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There is a growing and disturbing trend occurring now across the country as Obamacare implementation takes hold. It is like a domino effect that will eventually lead to both the disembodiment of our healthcare system and its eventual economic collapse. With Medicare reimbursements declining, uninsured patients rising, and  high Obamacare deductibles going unpaid, hospitals are hanging on for dear financial life.

I’ll go further into some basic economics but first one of the scary trends going on in medicine is that hospitals are laying off employees. About 250 Crozer-Keystone Health System employees, including physicians and managers, were laid recently following the announcement that the health system has lost almost $16 million in the last seven months, according to system officials. This statistic may seem almost unbelievable or just to be an anomaly, but the truth is that most hospitals are watching their profits disappear.

You may ask how is that possible. Even on the Mike Church show, he was talking about the greed of the hospitals and some physicians. The simple truth is that because a large portion of patients entering a hospital are elderly and on Medicare and due to significant Medicare reimbursement cuts, an inpatient admission for a Medicare recipient is a money losing endeavor the the hospital. Plus, if the Medicare patient returns for any reason within 30 days, the hospital does not get paid for that admission.

Secondly, there has been a definite rise in the uninsured patient. Whether they are illegal aliens or just people down on their luck because of the bad economy, the numbers are rising. Again, the hospital ends up losing money for each of their admissions. Lastly, with the initiation of Obamacare, the hospitals are collecting even less. Because of the high deductibles, patients with this insurance are unable to pay for their hospital bill, creating another loss in the hospital’s overall revenue.

Taken together, hopefully you understand why we are now witnessing hospitals either going bankrupt or having massive layoffs. It’s not because the business isn’t there. As the population grows older, there is in fact a greater need for both hospitals and physicians. However, in a few years, will there be any physicians or hospitals left to take care of anybody?