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Budget struggle raising anxiety for health care
Washington Times ^ | Dece 29, 2012 | By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar - Associated Press

Posted on 12/29/2012 1:46:02 PM PST by Jim Robinson

WASHINGTON (AP) — Confused about the federal budget struggle? So are doctors, hospital administrators and other medical professionals who serve the 100 million Americans covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

Rarely has the government sent so many conflicting signals in so short a time about the bottom line for the health care industry.

Cuts are coming, says Washington, and some could be really big. Yet more government spending is also being promised as President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul advances and millions of uninsured people move closer to getting government-subsidized coverage.

“Imagine a person being told they are going to get a raise, but their taxes are also going to go up and they are going to be paying more for gas,” said Thornton Kirby, president of the South Carolina Hospital Association. “They don’t know if they are going to be taking home more or less. That’s the uncertainty when there are so many variables in play.”

Real money is at stake for big hospitals and small medical practices alike. Government at all levels pays nearly half the nation’s health care tab, with federal funds accounting for most of that.

It’s widely assumed that a budget deal will mean cuts for Medicare service providers. But which ones? How much? And will Medicaid and subsidies to help people get coverage under the health care law also be cut?

As House Speaker John Boehner famously said: “God only knows.”

~~snip~~

The American Hospital Association says that would lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of hospital jobs in a labor intensive industry that also generates employment for other businesses in local communities.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: budget; fubo; healthcare; jobs; medicare; obama; socialism
To err is human. To FUBAR requires government intervention.

Obama = FUBAR

1 posted on 12/29/2012 1:46:15 PM PST by Jim Robinson
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To: Jim Robinson

So, I take it it’s OK now to say Bam it on FR then?


2 posted on 12/29/2012 1:48:29 PM PST by combat_boots (The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Filio et Spiritui Sancto!)
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To: Jim Robinson

You know, I was unaware of the “problem” with health care until Obama decided to fix it.


3 posted on 12/29/2012 1:55:24 PM PST by humblegunner
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To: Jim Robinson

In my lifetime, I have yet to see the liberal Democrats do one thing that turned out good. Everything they touch goes in the sewer. Healthcare isn’t going to be any different.


4 posted on 12/29/2012 1:56:25 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Where can I pick up a 2013 Mayan calendar?)
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To: Jim Robinson

i’m concerned with my budget and rising everything vs less income and zero good job prospects. and we are better off than most folks.


5 posted on 12/29/2012 1:57:28 PM PST by bravo whiskey (“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.”)
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To: bravo whiskey; humblegunner

Ain’t socialism grand.


6 posted on 12/29/2012 2:05:36 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Jim Robinson

Obama is purposefully creatin fear in every sector of politics, society, and the economy.

Good conservatives in the House are being pressured to knuckle under to fear. They must not.

People who possess firearms are now pressured into fear of being stigmatized as barbaric , responsible for the massacre in Sandy.

The nation is being propagandized into fiscal cliff fear, when in fact Obama can fix it all without pressure in his new term.

Obama is a fascist who seeks to conquer through division fear. He needs to be put in his place.Soon no one will obey his executive orders or tax law. Why should we, when Obama seeks to use the IRS to destroy the entrepreneurial class that drives the economic engines of our nation? This is Obamas reason for wanting the tax on higher income Americans...he will use the IRS to destroy them, for they are an obstacle to his socialist conquest of our nation.He will audit them and destroy them without mercy.If Congress reaches a deal on taxing higher income Americans, war will be waged on those who drive our economy.

IMHO , we are far beyond FUBAR. We are under conquest.


7 posted on 12/29/2012 2:07:26 PM PST by Candor7 (Obama fascism article:(http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html))
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To: humblegunner

It does seem like the more govt tries to “fix” healthcare, the worse it gets for us.


8 posted on 12/29/2012 2:11:03 PM PST by virgil
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To: Jim Robinson

“Cuts are coming, says Washington, and some could be really big. Yet more government spending is also being promised as President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul advances and millions of uninsured people move closer to getting government-subsidized coverage.”

In other words, people who worked all their lives to earn medical coverage and paid into medicare ever since it was established, will take large cuts. While people who never did a day’s work in the lives, or who illegally crossed the border, will get free medical care. And the doctors and hospitals will be screwed.

Well, I guess us older folks are just going to have to die when the time comes. Obamacare certainly isn’t going to do anything but undermine and destroy the insurance we have been paying for.


9 posted on 12/29/2012 2:15:42 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Jim Robinson

Docs who are my clients have been sending me at least two emails daily for the last couple of weeks asking what their managed care fee schedule is going to be for next year from the various insurance companies. Patients are also calling wanting me to find out what their insurance benefits are going to be. My answer? Only God knows!

One thing I do know is that gas was $.09 a gallon more this morning than last night.

I have been around for a good many years and I don’t ever recall this much uncertainty in every single area of our economy which, according to the MSM broadcasters, has stabilized and improving. Would be good news if true.


10 posted on 12/29/2012 2:18:52 PM PST by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: Jim Robinson

It’s a nightmare now with medicare, our insurance and the insurance people at our docs clinic.

It will only become more FUBAR when 0care kicks in.


11 posted on 12/29/2012 2:23:49 PM PST by jazusamo ("Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent." -- Adam Smith)
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To: Jim Robinson; All
Critical thinking says take action/charge of what you can control. There is plenty of food, you have control, store it while you can. There is plenty of water, take control, store it. Batteries give power if electricity fails - store rechargeable batteries and good solar charger. Over the counter meds are plentiful, store what you need. Store lots of dollar bills and change.

If you think the above is simple to do, it is. You are saving money to store food at the price it is now. Saved money helps to pay medical bills which you may have to do if Obamacare isn't sufficient for what you need at the doctor's office or a hospital or at the pharmacy.

I will not sit at my house and worry about what might happen. No, I prepare instead. And I just bought a red laser for my gun - now my target alignment is very accurate.

Hussein doesn't own me - I own me and I have prepared to take care of me. He's got a bunker filled with water and food - well, so do I (and you and I paid for his). What can Hussein do to me? Very little, let him eat dirt.

12 posted on 12/29/2012 2:41:07 PM PST by Marcella (Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
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To: Jim Robinson

This is what reaps when the blatant vocal lie-fraud was sown now nearly 1/4 of a century ago.. “Mark my word, no new taxes.”

And the culmination of now in the attempt to pass off lie-fraud securities by Anti-Glass Steigal so called “banking” and “insurance” snakes (who have many have been proagandized to believe they are “industry”)by what is known to be “collateral transformation” (passing off fraud collateral).

How’d it work out in Massachusetts Mandate Mitt land?


13 posted on 12/29/2012 2:54:15 PM PST by Varsity Flight (Extortion-Care is the Government Work-Camp: Arbeitsziehungslager)
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To: Jim Robinson
A perfect example of why socialism/Marxism does not work.

If the medical profession were free of gummit idiots, there would not be all of this confusion and angst.

Doctors would set their rates as they needed and patients would pay, and that would be that.

Those who could not pay would go to charity hospitals, as they existed once upon a time, and doctors would treat them just as they once did.

14 posted on 12/29/2012 3:01:57 PM PST by old curmudgeon
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To: Jim Robinson

Oh, damn! Obamacare was destined to be a crowning achievement for the Central Planners.


15 posted on 12/29/2012 3:07:48 PM PST by windsorknot
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To: Jim Robinson; All
WASHINGTON (AP) — Confused about the federal budget struggle? So are doctors, hospital administrators and other medical professionals who serve the 100 million Americans covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

This didn't already do that?... Sheese!


In addition to capturing the massive expansion of government and the overwhelming complexity of new regulations and taxes, the chart portrays:

16 posted on 12/29/2012 3:13:09 PM PST by RedMDer (Those that believe in gun free zones should post gun free zone signs on their property and persons.)
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To: Jim Robinson

The reimbursement issue isn’t the only thing driving doctors out of Medicare; regulation is even more perilous. Electronic records and capricious, complex coding rules give regulators and auditors unprecedented access and power to harass, prosecute and convict innocent physicians and providers.
To those over 65, if you have the means, leave the country for friendlier climes. Even though you’ll have to pay something out of pocket, you’ll probably get the care you need right away at an offshore clinic. As long as you’re paying, you won’t have to worry about IPAB boards or privacy breaches. In most cases, living abroad will save you money that can be used for private healthcare.


17 posted on 12/29/2012 4:49:42 PM PST by grumpygresh (Democrats delenda est; zero sera dans l'enfer bientot)
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To: Jim Robinson
“They don’t know if they are going to be taking home more or less. That’s the uncertainty when there are so many variables in play.”

I know my "disposable" income has diminished by several hundreds a month under the big Zero - I imagine that there are many who really feel the crunch but still refuse to blame the real problem as long as "Bush" remains a 4-letter word (So does "Zero" for that matter).

18 posted on 12/30/2012 4:22:04 AM PST by trebb (Allies no longer trust us. Enemies no longer fear us.)
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