Rage Against The Healthcare Machine

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Rage Against The Healthcare Machine

Private equity takeover, gaslighting providers, bureaucracy run amok... come rage with us.

31/08/2023

"McAneny thinks that for insurance companies, it’s really all about the money.

"Her theory is that insurance companies save money by delaying spending as long as possible, especially if the patient or the doctor gives up on the appeal, or the patient’s condition rapidly declines in the absence of treatment.

"For an insurance company, she said, 'you know, death is cheaper than chemotherapy.'

I spoke with more than 50 insurance experts, patients, lawyers, physicians and consumer advocates about building a tool anyone could use to navigate insurance appeals. Nearly everyone said the same thing: Great idea. But almost impossible to do.

29/08/2023

We sorely need laws to protect patients and families from the "balance billing" process most hospital systems employ.

Eloise Reynolds encountered a perplexing reality in medical billing: Providers can come after patients for more money well after a bill has been paid.

28/08/2023

Weaponizing healthcare as a labor control tactic.

In a few days, nurses will have to pay for their health insurance through COBRA.

24/08/2023

“There is a growing consensus that there is very little difference between a for-profit and nonprofit hospital when it comes to behavior,” Mr. Ellison said in an interview.

Allina Health, a large Midwestern system of hospitals and clinics, says it has decided to stop cutting off medical care to patients with unpaid medical bills of $4,500 or more.

19/08/2023

Because why not...

In trials, brexpiprazole failed to provide a clinically meaningful benefit and it increased mortality, but the FDA fast tracked its approval and the sponsor predicts $1bn in annual sales. Robert Whitaker investigates the first licensed antipsychotic for treating agitation in elderly patients with de...

17/08/2023

Yep, gotta pay back those investors somehow... The US legal system continues to be weaponized against people needing healthcare.

NC hospitals have successfully sued thousands of patients and their families for $57 million in medical debt,

14/08/2023

"What he discovered in internal emails and government documents, which he shared with ProPublica, was a picture sharply at odds with the image of CMS as a hugely powerful force in health care. The records showed, again and again, federal officials deferring not only to a single company, but to a single executive.

"Over the past five years, CMS adopted that company’s positions on fees. Shteynshlyuger discovered that, when it comes to the issue he cares about, the most powerful decision-maker wasn’t a CMS official. It was the chief lobbyist for a middleman company called Zelis. And that man just happened to be a former CMS staffer who had authored a key federal rule on electronic payments.

A powerful lobbyist convinced a federal agency that doctors can be forced to pay fees on money that health insurers owe them. Big companies rake in profits while doctors are saddled with yet another cost in a burdensome health care system.

10/08/2023

Rep Van Orden claims this is a win, but it's really just a cash give-away to Gundersen. While access to EMS is one thing, the cost is another. Ambulance and EMS fees are typically not covered by insurance, and patients are often left to cover the cost of their own medical emergencies. While the deal sounds good, this has potential to bankrupt more people in rural Wisconsin.

LA CROSSE, WI – At a press conference in La Crosse, today Rep. Derrick Van Orden (WI-3) announced $600,000 in federal funds for Gundersen Health System, which if passed will support ambulances and emergency equipment for the residents of Wisconsin’s Third...

10/08/2023

Here's the strategy in a nutshell:

Private equity firm X buys struggling hospital system Z. X forces Z to sell it's properties to a specific Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). The REIT in turn charges exorbitant "rent" fees towards Z. Z is forced to either make severe cutbacks or shuts it's doors.

This is economic warfare.

Stock in Medical Properties Trust tanked 14 percent this week after a couple of eyebrow-raising disclosures.

08/08/2023

Enraging for anybody caught up in the crossfire of the claims process...

To quote the article:

"[U.S. Department of Labor] said UMR’s claim denials have had major health and financial consequences for those affected.

"There's a significant impact to an individual's health and welfare," he said. "Individuals, in some instances, have gone bankrupt because there's large expenses that are sometimes associated with the treatment they received."

The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for those with wrongfully denied claims, and asks the court to prevent the company from continuing that practice.

In a statement, UMR said the lawsuit is based on an administrative process that's no longer in place.

"We have been in ongoing conversations with the (Department of Labor) regarding this matter and will continue to defend our position vigorously," the statement read.

The U.S. Department of Labor is suing a third-party health insurance administrator based in Wausau for wrongfully denying thousands of emergency room and urinary drug screening claims.

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