Stimulus Bill -- Nationwide System of Medical Records?

[shortbun]

Also, at this time one has the option of NOT using insurance for medical issues thus NOT passing on info to their insurance company. I pay out of pocket for some things. This is on the advice of a very astute insurance agent who says there are some things you don't necessarily want your insurance company to know. SO-if you choose to go out of pocket after this system is up and running, perhaps you could pick and choose just what was in your records based on what had to be turned in.

Do you automatically sign all the release forms, HIPA stuff, etc. when asked by your doctor?

 

[shortbun]

The key is to google a lot. If you're white, google Sickle-Cell Anemia. If you're male, google gynecological problems. If you're childless, google pregnancy complications. That'll mess 'em up!

Hilarious!! I should Google all kinds on sports injuries so they think I'm an athlete!!!

 

[FinallyBoughtDVC]

My uncle has survived lung cancer (half lung removed, radiation, chemo - five years out - no cancer at all), has CHF and COPD. He moved from Pennsylvania to New York. He's a Vet, but uses mostly private doctors.

In September 2008 - he had EKG, chest xray, pet scan, CAT scan and numerous other tests. Medicare picked up the tab.

In Novemer 2008 - he moved to New York and got set up with doctors right away due to the serious nature of his illnesses. New doctor ordered all the same exact tests to be repeated (except for the pet) - Medicare picked up the tab.

In January 2009 - he went to the local Vet's hospital in NY to get all his information on file there so he could get a wheelchair and just have any records on file that were necessary. Due to his lung problems, they made him see a pulmonary guy - even though my uncle currently has one. That doctor wants a repeat of all the same tests (except for the pet). The VA would pick up the tab.

So, in five months, my uncle had to endure (these tests are exhausting and time consuming for him) all these tests because no doctor, even when told tests had just been done, wanted those tests - they wanted new ones, or the photocpies or fax copies weren't clear - or what have you. And, Medicare, his secondary insurance (Blue Cross) and the VA footed the bill.

This isn't about privacy or invading privacy. Our health care system is a freaking disaster. The first and best way to clean it up is to centralize all information. My son is in college in Florida, I live in NY. God forbid there's an emergency and he's unconscious and I'm unavailable, they'd have immediate information available to determine any allergies, previous history, medical tests, etc.

Not everything is a big, bad monster. This is something Obama campaigned on - this wasn't a surprise to anyone who was paying attention. Stump speech after stump speech - he talked about the need to do this and the jobs it would create and the money and patient time it would save. I don't agree with everything in the stimulus or everything that comes out of Obama's mouth - but this? In my opinion - this is good.

 

[rabx5]

My uncle has survived lung cancer (half lung removed, radiation, chemo - five years out - no cancer at all), has CHF and COPD. He moved from Pennsylvania to New York. He's a Vet, but uses mostly private doctors.

In September 2008 - he had EKG, chest xray, pet scan, CAT scan and numerous other tests. Medicare picked up the tab.

In Novemer 2008 - he moved to New York and got set up with doctors right away due to the serious nature of his illnesses. New doctor ordered all the same exact tests to be repeated (except for the pet) - Medicare picked up the tab.
In January 2009 - he went to the local Vet's hospital in NY to get all his information on file there so he could get a wheelchair and just have any records on file that were necessary. Due to his lung problems, they made him see a pulmonary guy - even though my uncle currently has one. That doctor wants a repeat of all the same tests (except for the pet). The VA would pick up the tab.
So, in five months, my uncle had to endure (these tests are exhausting and time consuming for him) all these tests because no doctor, even when told tests had just been done, wanted those tests - they wanted new ones, or the photocpies or fax copies weren't clear - or what have you. And, Medicare, his secondary insurance (Blue Cross) and the VA footed the bill.

This isn't about privacy or invading privacy. Our health care system is a freaking disaster. The first and best way to clean it up is to centralize all information. My son is in college in Florida, I live in NY. God forbid there's an emergency and he's unconscious and I'm unavailable, they'd have immediate information available to determine any allergies, previous history, medical tests, etc.

Not everything is a big, bad monster. This is something Obama campaigned on - this wasn't a surprise to anyone who was paying attention. Stump speech after stump speech - he talked about the need to do this and the jobs it would create and the money and patient time it would save. I don't agree with everything in the stimulus or everything that comes out of Obama's mouth - but this? In my opinion - this is good.

Not only was it hard for your uncle to constantly be retested, but the tax payers had to pay those bills everytime. I completely agree with your post. All these naysayers seem shocked about this info when as you stated, Obama brought this up during his entire campaign.



We don't seem to have a problem with the government knowing where every penny we spend goes-well I should say $10,000.01 or more or if we wire money-$3,500.00 or more. Gotta love those currency transaction reports Yeah and if the bank teller doesn't like you-they can file a SAR (suspicious activity report) on a customer using $2,000.00 or more. Yup-sent directly to the government because they are pretty sure everybody that does any transactions in those cash amounts must be money laundering.

If you want to talk about security regarding the EMR's well, we have to trust the government to keep those records secure. I know that in the past 2 weeks, personally we have had 3 cards comprimised because of a private company that keeps my electronic records was breached. 2 debit cards and a Master Card How often do we hear of hackers getting into automated clearing houses and stealing information? The same with pharmacies that have been comprimised lately. I believe the government can keep our files safer than private companies-that's my opinion.

Ok, rant over

 

[Charade]

It was not just slipped in. Pesident Obama has said all through his campaign that he wanted to computerize medical records.

I think Daschel wa refering to slipping in a heath care plan in any bill. There was no health care plan in the stimulas bill just changing medical records over to e-files so Doctors and hospitals all over the US could with your permission access your files.

The reason it was a part of the stimulas bill is because the
provision will not only result in $10 billion in savings but also further improvements in care and costs as we implement health care reform, while creating over 40,000 new jobs that will endure.



Link to full article:

http://govhealthit.com/articles/200...e-in-senates-stimulus-bill.aspx?s=GHIT_100209

How does creating 40,000 jobs save $10B a year?

 

[eliza61]

I have an HMO run by aetna insurance, one of the biggest insurers in the country. I'm having a hard time seeing how this plan is any different that my HMO (except of course who is managing it ) Basically all my medical info and my kids info is computerized. If I go to a hospital in Las Vegas, when I hand over my aetna card they tap into aetna's data base and up pops my entire history. test results, hospitilizations, immunizations.
I have to pick my doctors from a list of approved doctors. If I visit some one outside of my network, the insurance doesn't cover it.
If I want to see a specialist or get testing (Xrays, mri), I have to get a referral (which is simply a fancy way of saying a permission slip).

If I develop a serious illness (cancer), the powers to be at Aetna decide on what course of treatment I get. I can pretend my doctor is in control but the truth of the matter is, if aetna rejects my claim or says his treatment is too radical, no way can I afford the treatment. I am left to either sue or go through a long process to complain.

I keep hearing about some "slippery slope" we are on but in reality aren't we already there? The only difference is that now a big company is in control. A big insurance company that gets thousands of tax breaks.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I guess the reason was that most of the congressmen Republicans and Democrats alike felt this was a "good thing".

In fact Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, a Republican helped craft the health IT provisions of the Senate bill.

I'm sorry. I don't agree. It's not a good thing. It is a stepping stone to nationalized healthcare....otherwise know as "rationed care". As I stated, it's a "chip away" game.

Do you guys really want the same care as the VA? The government controlling or running healthcare is frightening. I don't think some of you guys have really thought this through.... Maybe, you haven't been around to see what the consequences are. I know, it "sounds" great in theory. TENNCARE is the model for nationalized healthcare. It's IS A DISASTER !!! The roles have been reduced, and reduced and abused. The care is less than adequate. Why do you want to turn our healthcare system into that?

 

[Charade]

I'm sorry. I don't agree. It's not a good thing. It is a stepping stone to nationalized healthcare....otherwise know as "rationed care". As I stated, it's a "chip away" game.

Do you guys really want the same care as the VA? The government controlling or running healthcare is frightening. I don't think some of you guys have really thought this through.... Maybe, you haven't been around to see what the consequences are. I know, it "sounds" great in theory. TENNCARE is the model for nationalized healthcare. It's IS A DISASTER !!! The roles have been reduced, and reduced and abused. The care is less than adequate. Why do you want to turn our healthcare system into that?

I don't think they know the difference between encroachment and progress.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I have to pick my doctors from a list of approved doctors. If I visit some one outside of my network, the insurance doesn't cover it.
If I want to see a specialist or get testing (Xrays, mri), I have to get a referral (which is simply a fancy way of saying a permission slip).

I keep hearing about some "slippery slope" we are on but in reality aren't we already there? The only difference is that now a big company is in control. A big insurance company that gets thousands of tax breaks.

At least you have the chance to see a specialist.

Are we there yet? NO!!! You have no idea how much worse it can be. I have personally seen the horrors and frustrations of government healthcare. Don't fool yourself. THAT'S WHAT OBAMA AND THE DEMS WANT. THIS IS WHERE THEY ARE GOING.

It's agony to see someone shuffled through the system....to have them given vitamins and pain pills....going to one appointment to get another appointment to set up another appointment..Never treating the problem...and you just watch and wait for them to die...from NO care.

 

[minnie61650]

How does creating 40,000 jobs save $10B a year?

I the $10 billion figure is what will be saved when medicade and medicaredo not have to pay for all the repete x-rays ,scans, and other lab tests.


FinallyBoughtDVC gave us a good example of all the reate tests that were ordered by different doctors.

FinallyBoughtDVC explained, that his/her uncle had survived lung cancer (half lung removed, radiation, chemo - five years out - no cancer at all), has CHF and COPD. He moved from Pennsylvania to New York. He's a Vet, but uses mostly private doctors.

He/she went on to explain how many different doctors ordered the same tests over a span of less than 6 months.

The post on this page of this thread.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I the $10 billion figure is what will be saved when medicade and medicaredo not have to pay for all the repete x-rays ,scans, and other lab tests.


FinallyBoughtDVC gave us a good example of all the reate tests that were ordered by different doctors.

FinallyBoughtDVC explained, that his/her uncle had survived lung cancer (half lung removed, radiation, chemo - five years out - no cancer at all), has CHF and COPD. He moved from Pennsylvania to New York. He's a Vet, but uses mostly private doctors.

He/she went on to explain how many different doctors ordered the same tests over a span of less than 6 months.

The post on this page of this thread.

Just my 2 cents.

I have never had a problem with different doctors usually current testing data. If it was not current....different story. A six month interval can be a significant time span..especially in a cancer patient.

 

[eliza61]

At least you have the chance to see a specialist.

Are we there yet? NO!!! You have no idea how much worse it can be. I have personally seen the horrors and frustrations of government healthcare. Don't fool yourself. THAT'S WHAT OBAMA AND THE DEMS WANT. THIS IS WHERE THEY ARE GOING.

It's agony to see someone shuffled through the system....to have them given vitamins and pain pills....going to one appointment to get another appointment to set up another appointment..Never treating the problem...and you just watch and wait for them to die...from NO care.

This is what our health care system is today!!
And now you know what poor people all over the country with no health insurance endure daily. My dh left medical practice for this very reason. Big insurance companies don't give a flying fig about any thing but making profits.
Does any one remember the poor woman who died sitting in a waiting room at a brooklyn hospital?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/01/waiting.room.death/

Camden NJ is one of the poorest communities in america, this happens daily. Every single day.
We have the highest infant mortality rate of any westernized country. Seniors have to choose between affording medicine and eating. I personally know 3 elderly ladies who take their heart medicine every other day because they can't afford a 30 day prescription.
And you're telling me this is the best we can do.

Sorry Our health care system stinks and no I am not saying nationalized Health care is the answer but you will never get me to believe that ours is wonderful. I've been in medicine in some form over 25 years and over 25 years it's gotten worse and more expensive. Administration after administration has swept the problem under the rug because no one wants to deal with it. so it keeps getting worse and worse.
Fine if the government isn't the answer than what is? Please don't say what we have now because it stinks. If one thing I'm sick of it's this continued fear to do any thing.

 

[TLSnell1981]

This is what our health care system is today!!
And now you know what poor people all over the country with no health insurance endure daily. My dh left medical practice for this very reason. Big insurance companies don't give a flying fig about any thing but making profits.
Does any one remember the poor woman who died sitting in a waiting room at a brooklyn hospital?

I know the good, the bad and the ugly. Our healthcare system may not be perfect, but it beats any government program. Too many confuse "no insurance" with "no healthcare". There is a difference.

One of the biggest problems facing our system.....the blood sucking lawyers. Doctors have to second guess every decision they make. Many costs are CYA. Of course, then you have the minimum wage clerks....dictating what treatments are "appropriate". Does anyone really believe the government is going to do a better job? To whom does the government answer? Do we really need more red tape?

 

[Christine]

I know the good, the bad and the ugly. Our healthcare system may not be perfect, but it beats any government program. Too many confuse "no insurance" with "no healthcare". There is a difference.

One of the biggest problems facing our system.....the blood sucking lawyers. Doctors have to second guess every decision they make. Many costs are CYA. Of course, then you have the minimum wage clerks....dictating what treatments are "appropriate". Does anyone really believe the government is going to do a better job? To whom does the government answer? Do we really need more red tape?

How can you say that when the United States is so far down on the list for a healthy population in relation to the dollars spent on health care and having some of the greatest medical minds in the world?

Some people in this country are getting excellent health care. Those *some* include the rich who can buy boutique health care and can buy their way through the red tape. The rest of us (with insurance) are being handled in a fairly mediocre manner. While there is excellent care and excellent doctors to be had, the insurance business, the lack of organization, and the cut-throat profiteering are making it harder and harder to get to that care. I have dealt with a cancer diagnosis since I was 31 years old (I am now 46) and the decline in care and me being able to see who I need in a timely fashion has degraded beyond belief. And I have fairly good insurance. I'm not sure we are doing any better than other countries at this point but we're paying a hell of a lot more for it. I don't mind paying extra when you get something for it. I'm not seeing much of a return on my money these days.

 

[TLSnell1981]

How can you say that when the United States is so far down on the list for a healthy population in relation to the dollars spent on health care and having some of the greatest medical minds in the world?

Some people in this country are getting excellent health care. Those *some* include the rich who can buy boutique health care and can buy their way through the red tape. The rest of us (with insurance) are being handled in a fairly mediocre manner. While there is excellent care and excellent doctors to be had, the insurance business, the lack of organization, and the cut-throat profiteering are making it harder and harder to get to that care. I have dealt with a cancer diagnosis since I was 31 years old (I am now 46) and the decline in care and me being able to see who I need in a timely fashion has degraded beyond belief. And I have fairly good insurance. I'm not sure we are doing any better than other countries at this point but we're paying a hell of a lot more for it. I don't mind paying extra when you get something for it. I'm not seeing much of a return on my money these days.

The government will ration care. As I stated earlier....they will give you an appointment...to come back to set up an appointment....to decide who you need an appointment with...so they can give you an appointment for tests and then....another appointment to decide it you need additional tests... By that time....it may be too late for any treatment.

And that's only the beginning. The red tape government healthcare will bring...*shudders*

 

[ntsammy5]

The government will ration care. As I stated earlier....

And you know this how?

 

[ameraumi]

I'm sorry. I don't agree. It's not a good thing. It is a stepping stone to nationalized healthcare....otherwise know as "rationed care". As I stated, it's a "chip away" game.

Do you guys really want the same care as the VA? The government controlling or running healthcare is frightening. I don't think some of you guys have really thought this through.... Maybe, you haven't been around to see what the consequences are. I know, it "sounds" great in theory. TENNCARE is the model for nationalized healthcare. It's IS A DISASTER !!! The roles have been reduced, and reduced and abused. The care is less than adequate. Why do you want to turn our healthcare system into that?

How is it any different then Insurance Companies playing "God" with our lives? At least with Gov't care EVERYONE receives the same care. As it is, each Ins Co (with many different policies) get to decide who gets what treatment.

 

[eliza61]

How is it any different then Insurance Companies playing "God" with our lives? At least with Gov't care EVERYONE receives the same care. As it is, each Ins Co (with many different policies) get to decide who gets what treatment.

It's not. This system has been broke for years and when ever any one tries to fix it, some one parades the old "isms" out. Communism, socialism etc, etc.

 

[eliza61]

I know the good, the bad and the ugly. Our healthcare system may not be perfect, but it beats any government program. Too many confuse "no insurance" with "no healthcare". There is a difference.One of the biggest problems facing our system.....the blood sucking lawyers. Doctors have to second guess every decision they make. Many costs are CYA. Of course, then you have the minimum wage clerks....dictating what treatments are "appropriate". Does anyone really believe the government is going to do a better job? To whom does the government answer? Do we really need more red tape?

What difference? If you have no insurance, you don't go to the doctor, you don't get preventive care, if you get sick you are 10X's as likely to die. How is this health care? Ask the unemployeed who cannot afford those atrocious COBRA payments what health care they have. They have to be on deaths door before they even think about going to the ER. How is that health care.
Do you know how many kids I have seen die from an Asthma attack because they can't afford inhalers and by the time they get to ER they're gone. That my dear is "no health care"

I do agree with the lawyers. which is a shame because my mom was a civil rights attorney. Go figure.

 

[TLSnell1981]

And you know this how?

It's done now. Tenncare....the model for national healthcare does it.

This government program was "supposed" to spend less, because they cut reimbursements and rationed care. The quality of care declined because there never was enough money. This hurt patients.

Tenncare has been a nightmare since it's inception. Tennessee wants an exit strategy. The cost has forced the program to tell patients what they can and can't have. They have also had to cut qualified patients from the roles. It's too expensive.

Tennessee's disastrous experiment with universal health care coverage began in 1994 in the wake of Hillary Clinton's failed national single-payer plan. The Clinton Administration was anxious to see the program implemented on a smaller scale, so Vice President Al Gore was tasked to enlist then-Tennessee Democrat Gov. Ned McWherter to agree to the plan with the assurance that such a program would save the state money in the long-run and that the federal government would kick in the majority of the cost of running the program.

The original "grand" plan was to save money, but it didn't quite work that way.

The state, however, didn't bear the entire brunt of TennCare: hospitals and doctors also bore a large part of the costs associated with Tennessee's universal health care experiment. In the first six years of TennCare, a dozen hospitals had closed around the state - all of them in underserved areas. Physicians were leaving the state in droves. And as the quality of health care continued to decline for all Tennesseans, taxpayers were getting stuck with the bill.