Life Without Medicare - Hospitals

Take any business whether it be for profit or tax-exempt and tell them that they are going to lose half of their revenues and they are done. That's what would happen at many acute care hospitals if Medicare were to disappear.

The first thing that would happen is that hundereds of hospitals would likely close. This would take much of the excess capacity out of the system. Hospitals would then be faced with a population that would have to turn to the private sector for insurance.

Unfortunately, insurance companies are not going to be keen to pay for a population that is very likely to have a return on their investment. Therefore, the population is likely to pay for their own care.

In this circumstance hospitals are going to have to have the service of a hospital and the precision of an airline. Hospitals would have to being to provide real value to their patients. That means the feeling of wellness whether real or perceived must be provided to patients to the level of what hospitals are asking to be paid.

Come back for more on the effect of the dissolution of Medicare on hospitals.

Life Without Medicare

In an earlier post, I wondered out loud...what would happen to the American health care system if Medicare were to suddenly and completely cease to exist? Over the next few posts I would like to explore the effect of this from several different perspectives including; hospitals,physicians, health insurers, and the community. I would appreciate any feedback or ideas on what you think of this.

The HFMA Wrapup

The HFMA event was a sucess with the largest attendance of all time. The theme of the day seemed to be fear. There is much uncertainty in the hospital industry because no one knows what will happen with Medicare in the next few years. In addition the seizing of the credit market are going to make it difficult to fund capital. However we must not forget that after every downturn comes an upturn and we will figure out how to get through this.

Reform in Maryland

The first presentation today was from HSCRC executive director Robert Murray. Mr. Murray spoke very excitedly about the opportunity to improve access to health care in Maryland. Access to care is one of the great hallmarks of the Maryland system.

Live from the HSCRC workshop

Today I will be reporting from the HFMA's HSCRC workshop. I will attempt to comment on many of the presentations regarding the latest in payment methodology.

No Medicare

What would happen if Medicare went away tomorrow? Obviously there would be chaos initially but after that how would the delivery of care change? Would hospitals close? Would physicians change the way they practiced medicine?

Super Tuesday

Paul Krugman details the difference in the democratic candidates on health insurnace reform:

NY Times Article