Gold Dome Live

By MARK

January 15, 2009 11:11 AM | Link to this

I agree!! help the poor with health care issues come on docs !!!!take the medicaid! im on medicare and i get terrible health care..its terrible way to live and im a cancer patiennt!ps im not poor i do okay however only medicare will insure me but the care is god awful…oh only if i had regular health insurance police like those in government i would get better…well maybe not now the damage is done…wake up america i love our country as much as you do i didnt choose chronic disease….

By dittohead

January 15, 2009 11:29 AM | Link to this

Mark….America is awake….Nothing provided by the government is efficient….You should know that by now…..Under Obama..it can only get worse..You voted for him….Save yourself.

By Josh

January 15, 2009 11:34 AM | Link to this

The problem is that Medicaid reimbursment rates have been cut so much by the government that it now costs the practice/doctor money to see and treat these people. Doc’s are better off if they don’t take these patients. It is less money out of their pocket.

By Shiloh Morgan

January 15, 2009 11:43 AM | Link to this

Dittohead I guess you voted for Bush who served us well for 8 years (NOT!). Georgia is one of the most back woods states on the map. We have laws that go back to the cave man days. For example, “you can get a ticket for blowing your horn at a highway intersection”. The government needs to get tough. People are losing their jobs and their kids are going hungry. Our schools are low on the totals of graduating students that can even get into the top rated colleges across america. I think its about time that someone comes forward and produces a bill to help those that actually need the help. This new administration is off to a great start. I applaud Representative Powell’s efforts. Taking care of the people has to start somewhere. Why not start at the bottom.

By Samantha

January 15, 2009 11:51 AM | Link to this

Doctors should take Medicaid. This is how the majority of doctors started getting their reputation out to the public and now they don’t want to accept it? Doctors should practice medicine because of the love of it, not because of the amount of $ they can get. Where are the doctors that REALLY CARE for People? They seem not to exist anymore!

By Linda

January 15, 2009 11:51 AM | Link to this

I work for a doctor. Our overhead is in the range of $1200.00 per hour. Medicare pays us $36.80 for each patient we see, many of whom take upwards of 30 minutes or more to treat, even for their most basic needs. Two of these patients an hour is a total payment of $73.60 against our overhead of $1200. Do we charge all the non-Medicare patients more, in order just to meet our expenses? No, we cannot legally do that. Any suggestions?

By Shiloh Morgan

January 15, 2009 11:53 AM | Link to this

Medicaid is a government rated program. Its not designed to make doctors rich. I’ve had Kaiser, Blue Cross and Cigna and have had problems where the doctors are fighting them also in terms of how much they are getting paid. Some doctors are in it to help make people feel better and then there are those that are in it just for the money. It will always be that way, and in some states it’s just worse than others. Our seniors and diabled need those programs because of insurance companies that want to continue plugging their plans with pre-existing clauses. Because of the economy now, I see executives trying to get Medicaid or Medicare or Peachcare for their kids, so Josh, wake up. Did doctors take oathes to help people get well, or to fill their pockets?

By mc

January 15, 2009 12:01 PM | Link to this

People need to stop having kids that they cannot afford. Why should I as a single male pay for someone else’s “8-kids’ healthcare”. If you cannot pay for your children abstain from risky sex. We need to be like China - one kid for every person (that’s it). We have resource shortages people: water, food, oil, land: yet people think a baby is their god given right. NOT. Grow up.

By Brian

January 15, 2009 12:07 PM | Link to this

Medicaid and Medicare typically deny claims submitted by PCP’s. If they approve them, it is literally pennies on the dollar. If they deny the claim, the labor and hours to process the appeal for those “pennies” they finally receive usually nullifies any “reimbursement” anyway.

Since you won’t work for free, why do you expect a doctor to? Wake up people, YOU are not entitled!

By Atlanta voter

January 15, 2009 12:07 PM | Link to this

Shiloh, you obviously think that every doctor in business is packing their pockets. Not true! I work for a family practice doc who barely made 60K last year. That is less than some MARTA bus drivers. She works her tail off seeing patients. Most pay, some don’t. She doesn’t have the option of seeing Medicaid patients who constantly jam the office with their entire families, make multiple appointments and “no show” ten times more than other patients. Let’s face it, she has to stay in business just like your grocery store. People have to pay or their is no service. Medical care is not a right. Somewhere along the way, people like you got the impression that you can have everything you want without paying for it. Not so!

By sj

January 15, 2009 12:11 PM | Link to this

Whether funded through Medicaid or some other agency, good compassionate healthcare should be available to ALL Americans. We have or National Security funded by the government, why not our health? One serious problem with the current suystem is that encourages lawsuits. All the plaintiff lawyers need is one birth injured baby every 5 yrs and they can make their Mercedes payments. It’s about reason….reduce the chance of legal harrassnment and maybe more Drs would stay in Ga (currently a mass exodus from Fl b/c of the ‘3 strikes’ law) and take Mcaid.

By Rodney S.

January 15, 2009 12:17 PM | Link to this

Having worked the past 5 years for a healthcare organization, I think it’s safe to say there is no simple solution to this problem. Medicaid reimbursement rates are set so low that in most cases it is impossible to make money treating a Medicaid patient. This financial loss will either come out of the pockets of the doctor/provider, the organization or be passed along as higher costs to the other patients. So Medicaid is basically asking you… do you want fewer doctors? Less hospitals? Or higher costs? If any of these are acceptable, please let me know.

By Koz

January 15, 2009 12:19 PM | Link to this

Samantha wrote: “Doctors should practice medicine because of the love of it, not because of the amount of $ they can get.”

Samantha you are exactly right girlfriend!!! Doctors spends thousands of hours and dollars on their education to enable them to graduate and then serve the public for free. They should know this when they sign up.

Thats exactly why I work at Taco Bell. First I don’t have any college loans to repay. But more importantly I can rake in the cash without having to love my job or care about people.

By diane

January 15, 2009 12:27 PM | Link to this

Why do you think doctors have to take patients they will lose money on? Would any one else do business that way, of course not. Doctors have enormous student loans to pay back, office rent, employees pay, malpractice insurance premiums etc. It’s a business. If the govt wants to help, at least pay reasonable amount so the doctor expenses are covered. The govt could also offer incentives for doctors and nurses to volunteer at public clinics.

By Fred

January 15, 2009 12:27 PM | Link to this

I cant work because my joints ache terribly, being a mechanic, my job is labor intensive, since I cant work, no insurance, I finally got medicaid on Dec. 4 2008, the first available appt was Jan 9th 2009, fully 2/3 of the doctors I called to find an earlier appt would not take me. I dont want welfare, am too young for disability, but I need medical care to get back to work, and now, most insurance companies wont take pre-existing conditions. I have been one of those whining about free-loaders on the welfare system, but without it, all that is left is disability. The least they could do for the doctors is to “forgive” a portion of their school loans for a predetermined amount of time given to the care of medicaid and medicare patients, no one should work for free, but without medical care, we will all be working to pay the bills for those who cant.

By TommyP

January 15, 2009 12:34 PM | Link to this

My girlfriend has cancer (again) and has been told by every insurance company that she is “uninsurable.” She was insured when she was married to her ex but once she was off his insurance, she’s had problems with insurance ever since.

Sad way to have to go through life.

By Doc in Training

January 15, 2009 12:47 PM | Link to this

There is not a one of you demanding physicians to take Medicaid that would work for less than minimum wage so why do you expect doctors to do so??? We did take the Oath to help people get better but we didn’t take the Oath to do it FOR FREE!!! No where in the Constitution does it state that you have the RIGHT to health care. People should be thankful for the health care they receive here in America. When are Americans going to start taking responsibility for their actions and STOP depending on everyone else to give them something? There is such a double standard when it comes to health care and unfortunately there are those that will continue to abuse and corrupt the system making it worse for everyone.

By Atlanta voter

January 15, 2009 3:35 PM | Link to this

Doc in Training, you said it! I never thought I’d hear such whining and belly aching about Dr’s and what they make. The last I heard, Medical Schools are still accepting applications, so why don’t the whiners apply. If it’s such a good deal, go for it! The fact of the matter is that no one wants to work their tails off spending years in medical school and residency, work 10-15 hours a day, sleep little while on hospital call and spend most every weekend on call for next to nothing. They want someone else to do it for nothing. P** whiners.