Medicare: The Bundlers Are Coming! The Bunglers Are Coming!

By guest contributor Marilyn M. Singleton, M.D., J.D. 

[Ed. Note: Boldface has been added for emphasis in some sections.]

Care for seniors will undergo big changes from the ObamaCare Tax Bill. Photo: Centers for Disease Control/ Cade MartinMy long-time self-paying patient opined that the end of fee-for-service payments (payment for what you get) was imminent. I lightheartedly asked her how physicians would be paid. Would they be housed in military barracks and given vouchers for necessaries?

Perhaps she read section 3023 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or “ObamaCare”), the National Pilot Program on Payment Bundling, which applies to certain Medicare beneficiaries.

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Central Planners’ Miscalculations Have Consequences

By guest contributor G. Keith Smith, M.D.

Will There Be Any Physicians Left To Implement Obamcare?

Photo: Centers for Disease Control/U.S. GovernmentAfter the election, the victors are exulting that ObamaCare is here to stay, and that the “best is yet to come” as their glorious plans to “fundamentally transform America” can proceed.

In their intellectual arrogance, the power-seekers have left a key variable out of their calculations: human behavior. Their predictions, for example, of increased revenue from increased taxation, are based on “static analysis.” They assume that people will not change their behavior, as when they think they are being robbed.

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Five eye-popping claims Democrats made in Charlotte speeches

This highly entertaining video takes apart some of the fantasy math Democrats employ when promoting the ObamaCare Tax Bill. (Video from Political Math blog)

On Tuesday evening as I watched various Democrats speak at the convention in Charlotte, I kept a running list of false claims. I planned to check them this morning.

Fortunately, a number of media outlets actually saved me some time; they ran fact-checks on statements made by speakers like Obama’s Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius. That in itself is a surprise considering the informal alliance Democrats have traditionally had with media.

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Why would you divert potential Medicare revenue?

I have to hand it to President Barack Obama. He never ceases to amaze me.

The Chicago Tribune highlighted a thought Obama expressed aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. Obama's looking for ways to keep interest rates low on student loans.

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American Doctors for Truth video shows target on seniors' backs

American Doctors for Truth created a video that memes the ‘Grandma off the cliff’ video Democrats unsuccessfully tried to use to maintain absolute power in Washington—the absolute of course ended in 2010 in the U.S. House. Physicians in this video are among the few in this country who will speak the truth about what a government takeover of healthcare will mean to all of us, but especially to the elderly.

Have you ever watched an elderly loved one navigate healthcare funded by Medicare?

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Seniors getting gouged—again!—by ObamaCare

The Centers for Disease Control provides information about proper washing of vegetables. Meanwhile, the government forgot to tell seniors Medicare will not cover a physical exam if the senior asked for a wellness visit. (Photo from CDC, Image No. 11433; by Cade Martin)Seniors have again been gouged by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Seniors who thought Medicare would pay for an annual physical ended up paying for a visit to the physician because the handbook distributed by the federal government used the wrong word to describe what Medicare would pay for.

Sound confusing? Just wait until the government socializes the whole healthcare sector.

The latest gouging was detailed by one of the biggest promoters of PPACA—the act is commonly called ObamaCare. AARP, the organization many seniors pay to join, praised the Democrats’ healthcare bill.

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Boomers take note: PPACA points to ageism in federal policy

A week ago I experienced something new to me—ageism. I commented on a friend’s Facebook discussion and another commenter went a bit off his rocker. Because I don’t agree with liberal government spending, this man attacked me because of my age. I suppose he had to do that because he had no idea how to support his beliefs with fact. He and others like him appear to buy into the government’s anti-boomer rhetoric. Government policy will be no friend to those of us who begin to retire over the next decade.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a perfect example.

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