Patient Care

Meet Your Insurer: Your Doctor

Meet Your Insurer:  Your Doctor

Will patients be unwelcome in doctor’s offices? On January 26, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it’s moving away from fee-for-service Medicare payments – the way you pay your plumber, your hairstylist, your photographer – and planning to tie 30% of Medicare payments to “quality” by 2016 and 50% by the end of 2018.

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom Celebrates Victories for Patient Rights in 2014

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom Celebrates Victories for Patient Rights in 2014

ST. PAUL, Minn.—This past year was perhaps one of the most crucial in history regarding patient rights and privacy, as important issues such as government health care, the storage of and research on baby DNA and federal biosurveillance plans all made headlines.

 

Your Doctor, the Robot

Your Doctor, the Robot

Will robots dictate medical treatment? In “Could Artificial Intelligence End the Electronic Medical Record Nightmare?” physician Kevin R. Stone says doctors, nurses and patients used to talk with each other to share information and solve problems, but now, “The electronic medical record has killed the oral science.” 

The Health Plan Scam

The Health Plan Scam

On October 20, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan lost in the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices dismissed their case without review. The charges of fraud, as well as the court-ordered $6 million penalty, are now a matter of record.

Between a Rock…and a Readmission

Between a Rock…and a Readmission

We’re in a hard place. Last year, Obamacare initiated a program to reduce so-called “excess readmissions” in hospitals. Section 3025 requires all hospitals subject to the policy to pay a penalty, called a “payment adjustment,” up to 3% if they readmit too many Medicare patients within 30 days of discharge.

South Dakota Ballot Initiative Could Give Patients Health Care Freedom

South Dakota Ballot Initiative Could  Give Patients Health Care Freedom

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Next month, South Dakota voters will see an initiative on their ballots that could put health care decisions back in their own hands.

Canary in the Healthcare Coal Mine

Canary in the Healthcare Coal Mine

Don’t miss what’s happening with vaccinations. Remember when health plans promised to maintain an enrollee’s health through prepaid coverage that included the full range of preventive care?

Will They “Value” Your Life?

Will They “Value” Your Life?

Government wants doctors paid for “value.” On July 1, Politico held a briefing called “Value vs. Volume.” Data-crunchers, in cahoots with government, say access to our private medical data can be used to pay doctors for “value,” instead of for the services they provide to patients.

America’s Health Care System Increasingly Unsafe

America’s Health Care System Increasingly Unsafe

ST. PAUL, Minn.—The blue and white “H” signs signifying a nearby hospital should be symbols of safety and help for those in need of medical care. But increased privacy intrusions, growing threats to parental rights, and encroaching government regulations that diminish quality of care have all contributed to making our nation’s health care system an increasingly unsafe place for Americans. 

Obamacare Rigged to Fleece Taxpayers

Obamacare Rigged to Fleece Taxpayers

Never doubt the cleverness of Big Health. Obamacare does not redistribute wealth to the poor. Instead, the law’s various requirements redistribute wealth and wages to Obama’s partner in crime: large health plans. These corporations are then by law allowed to keep the cash and shortchange the care under “medical necessity” guidelines, demonstrating again that coverage is not care.