Conservatives are PISSED...

[Playinghardball]

[BigL]

1. I'd hold off the celebrations a bit longer

I'm going into the healthcare field (I will be an RN in a few months time =D) and there are some issues that have a high likelihood of throwing a wrench in the gears. "Provider preventable condition" are not going to be covered by insurance, but the absolutist nature of this provision is troubling. Say someone falls and breaks a hip by their own fault. The hospital now has to eat those costs. So any patient that becomes a fall risk will have a higher likelihood of being put on restraints, which now increases their risk of becoming incontinent which rapidly ups their risk of developing a pressure ulcer (which stage III and IV are not covered). Now, anyone who has a few weeks of education in the healthcare field knows they only develop with severe neglect, but now either the RN or ACT, if they haven't been eliminated, has to spend time going in the room and turning this patient who may be on restraints because they are a falls-risk (god help you if they are on isolation). Time is valuable in this field. Very valuable.
You can tell me that they won't keep people restrained, because healthcare providers do all sorts of crazy shit to cover their asses. Look at the absurd number of diagnostic tests run to prevent lawsuits. And the bigger problem is that if hospitals lose money, they cut staff pay, particularly nurse pay (the group that costs the most). RNs don't like that. They leave the field over it.

Just saying, we don't know what's going to happen.

[Ino]

2. Enjoy your stay! (nt)

[Pretzel_Warrior]

3. Your post deals with already very high cost and

High risk patients. The vast majority of health delivery is on people with preventable and treatable conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and elevated LDL cholesterol.

More people being covered and lowering need for later stage health care intervention.

The worst breaking waves have already crashed over the USS Obamacare hull. They were the U.S. Supreme court case, 2012 election and dual issue of botched rollout/GOP terrorist hostage taking in October last year.

This thing is moving forward and will only get stronger.

Numbers for enrollment by young invincibles are on the rise.


Most importantly, ACA uptake and other issues are tracking well with how Romneycare progressed.

[BigL]

4. Very high cost patients

That may become a higher cost. Having people get access to low cost preventative medications is an extraordinary thing and not even a financial concern, but regulations that may result in increased costs for the other patients is something to be concerned about. They make up the majority of care, and despite people's access to preventative medicine, not everyone will take care of themselves, so this number may not dwindle. We see it in people with good insurance, they just don't do the things necessary to stay healthy.

[justgamma]

5. Provider preventable condition"

If the patient or people who pay into insurance have to cover for the hospitals' mistakes, what is the incentive for the hospital to "prevent the mistakes"? Seems to me if they caused it they should pay for it.