"The new payment system the commission expects to recommend has been tried before"
Then it's not really "new" is it? Lying frikkin' MSM!
Related: Return of the HMOs
"State seeks to revamp way doctors, hospitals are paid" by Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff | May 7, 2009
Massachusetts soon may embark on another bold healthcare experiment, with a state commission poised to recommend this month that insurers radically change how they pay doctors and hospitals....
In January, Patrick also started pressuring hospitals and insurers to cooperate on controlling medical costs, following a Globe Spotlight series showing that some hospitals, most significantly Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, are paid far more than others for providing similar services. The commission has not yet developed ways to lessen these disparities, but members said they plan to do so.
See: Why the Nation Doesn't Need Massachusetts Health Care
And how come the Globe is MINIMIZING their OWN award-winning report?
The new payment system the commission expects to recommend has been tried before; it was known as "capitation" when it initially became popular under managed care in the 1980s and early 1990s. The system broke down when many small physician practices lost millions of dollars on very sick patients with high healthcare costs, and amid widespread concern that the system encouraged doctors to deny patients necessary care so they could stay within their budgets.
You see What Your National Health Plan Will Look Like?
"The devil is in the details," said Dr. James Mongan, president of Partners HealthCare, the state's largest hospital and physician network, which includes Mass. General and the Brigham.
And which is one of the main looters and price gougers of our state!
Partners is one of a few systems that are already set up to handle global payments, which would require physician practices and hospitals to form networks to share insurers' payments and coordinate care....
Members of the Patrick administration said the cost of healthcare is reaching a crisis point....
Translation: our grand universal experiment has FAILED, folks!
You know what the solution is.
And what, ANOTHER CRISIS?!!
You'll have to take a number and I'll be right with you!
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