Boulder is a Stoopid Place

Zane Pollard: The Bureaucrat Sitting on Your Doctor’s Shoulder – WSJ.com.

Had I accepted Medicaid’s protocol and only obtained a scan of the chest, that child might not be alive today. Is that battle with government bureaucracy one that you are comfortable having your doctor fight when your child’s life is at stake?

People of means, as well as those who need substantial financial assistance, must be able to trust their doctors. When government sets up rigid protocols that control the surgical procedures a doctor may perform, that limit the medicines approved for treatment, and that deny a critical diagnostic scan that may save a patient’s life, the bond of trust is broken.

In Colorado, if the family income is less than 250% of the Federal Poverty Level ($59,000 for a family of 4) and you apply for a subsidy, your children will automatically be placed on CHP+ (Medicaid for children). You can decline Medicaid for them but you will have to pay “list price” for their coverage.

I’m frankly stunned by the number of people who place their children on Medicaid with little thought. As I’ve mentioned before, my younger daughter has been a patient at  Children’s Hospital 7 tines. I’m not referring to seeing a doctor or even a simple out patient procedure. I’m referring to multiple day stays. I would not, if I had any financial wherewithal at all, allow her to be on Medicaid.

Your mileage may vary, but don’t fool yourself that some unexpected illness or disease can’t happen to your children. Medicaid may work great for day to day stuff, and frankly I have my doubts about that, but is it really the insurance you want if your children have a serious illness or injury?

In closing, I realize many don’t have a choice due to their financial situation. Most likely Medicaid IS the best choice for them. For others, let me just say the decision deserves much more serious thought then it’s being given.

The Great Medicaid Swindle – The Daily Beast.

Far from being cretins who hate the poor and the uninsured, the states that have thus far refused to expand Medicaid are declining to increase the number of people trapped in a health care program that (at best) does no harm to its patients. And they’re actually thinking more clearly about where taxpayers will be a decade from now.

As I’ve mentioned before, a doctor at one of the local “mini-clinics” found out I was a health insurance agent, she immediately asked me what I thought of Obamacare. Her immediate gripe was the low reimbursement rate for Medicaid as it has a direct affect on her livelihood. From a big picture point of view, not necessarily any particular doctor, PA, etc, significantly lower pay will result in lower quality care. That’s common sense to Republican’s, a detestable though to Democrats/Progressives.