Since we are on the topic of Medicaid and I'm the resident whistleblower here:
Medicaid could save some insane money if people had to pay some deductible or copay.
I can't tell you how many Medicaid patients come through our clinic and will milk it for every drop. Our clinic likes it because its easy money and you don't need to take any payments(although payouts suck).
Meanwhile BCBS patients are hyper sensitive since they pay until they hit their max out of pocket. We work with them to get their visits down from ~16 visits to, 4-6. They can do a lot of the work at home, so they are motivated to do it without the $125/hr fee.
But medicaid patients would much rather have a doctor watch them, give them instruction, and do some hands on work. Its free, why not?
There is a huge disparity in treatment between the lower class and middle to upper class. At the end of the day, it seems everyone gets better. The payouts are the same ~16 visits * 40$ vs 4 visits at $125.
To be fair this seems like a bigger problem to me than Medicaid recipients "overusing" healthcare.
Are services to people on Medicaid provided at a cost and effectively subsidized by others?
Or are clinics just maximizing their profit margins by charging as much as they can since there are no incentives to decrease prices (insurance companies don't have that much interest in lowering overall costs since they can just raise the premiums).
>Are services to people on Medicaid provided at a cost and effectively subsidized by others?
Basically, I don't think we would have started a clinic if we assumed 100% of patients would be paying $40/hr.
>are clinics just maximizing their profit margins by charging as much as they can since there are no incentives to decrease prices (insurance companies don't have that much interest in lowering overall costs since they can just raise the premiums).
Yes. We charge $250/hr, and the insurance company adjusts it to $125/hr. (Note for anyone in medical, yes these are called units and aren't per hour, but I simplified it for better understanding)
Totally, but people on medicaid are people who essentially don't have money, right? In order to qualify, you must be below certain asset and income limits.
Lots of our patients own gas stations and lie about their income. What they do is have 1 person own the gas stations for credit card purchases, and everyone else claim the cash purchases.
We also have a few farmers/rural people who sell stuff for cash and don't report it.
Definitely not everyone is doing this loophole, but I always find it a bit brazen they are telling us this.
Medicaid could save some insane money if people had to pay some deductible or copay.
I can't tell you how many Medicaid patients come through our clinic and will milk it for every drop. Our clinic likes it because its easy money and you don't need to take any payments(although payouts suck).
Meanwhile BCBS patients are hyper sensitive since they pay until they hit their max out of pocket. We work with them to get their visits down from ~16 visits to, 4-6. They can do a lot of the work at home, so they are motivated to do it without the $125/hr fee.
But medicaid patients would much rather have a doctor watch them, give them instruction, and do some hands on work. Its free, why not?
There is a huge disparity in treatment between the lower class and middle to upper class. At the end of the day, it seems everyone gets better. The payouts are the same ~16 visits * 40$ vs 4 visits at $125.