And yet everyone pretends they don't know what is going on.
"AG finds clout of hospitals drives cost; State’s insurers pay twice as much to some providers" by Liz Kowalczyk and Scott Allen, Globe Staff | January 29, 2010
Massachusetts insurance companies pay some hospitals and doctors twice as much money as others for essentially the same patient care, according to a preliminary report by Attorney General Martha Coakley. It points to the market clout of the best-paid providers as a main driver of the state’s spiraling health care costs....
Try three times, Marty.
Coakley’s staff found that payments were most closely tied to market leverage, with the largest hospitals and physician groups, those with brand-name recognition, and those that are geographically isolated able to demand the most money.
“Everybody knows that there is dysfunction in the system, and nobody is happy with it,’’ Coakley said in an interview yesterday. “These rising costs are unsustainable. If we don’t do something about it, the only thing we’ll be able to afford is health care. No one will have money for food or housing.’’
The report did not identify insurers and providers by name, and Coakley declined to release the names of the highest-paid, saying she wanted to lay out systemwide problems, not blame individual organizations. More detailed information may come to light during Patrick administration hearings on how to control medical costs, scheduled to begin March 16.
Pffft!
I'm glad she blew the Senate seat.
So much for a trustworthy AG here in Massachushitts.
A 2008 Globe Spotlight Team series focused on the Boston market found that hospitals such as Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital typically are paid 15 percent to 60 percent more for essentially the same work as other hospitals, even though the quality is not superior.
Coakley’s statewide investigation found that the payment gap was wider than the Globe determined. The report shows that a small group of about 10 hospitals statewide command significantly higher payments than the other 55, ranging from 10 to 100 percent more than their competitors for similar work....
Yeah, dance all around the AWARD-WINNING REPORT!
Why even bother then, Glob, if you are really working for overcharging insurance conglomerates?
Coakley’s investigators found that Massachusetts health care costs, which are growing by 7.5 percent annually, are mostly the result of rising prices, not patients getting more imaging tests, surgery, and other procedures. For one major insurer, provider price increases accounted for 80 percent of the total growth in medical expenses between 2006 and 2009....
Officials at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer, acknowledged that insurers pay some hospitals and physician groups far more than others, mostly because they have to. Andrew Dreyfus, executive vice president for health care services, said hospitals in high demand or serving geographically isolated populations can hold out for higher payments.
Isn't that EXTORTION?
“We need to change it,’’ said Dreyfus, who had not seen the report. “The deeper question is how do you do that?’’
SINGLE PAYER!
Pick a country, pick a plan.
Officials at Partners HealthCare, the parent organization of Mass. General and the Brigham, said they welcome Coakley’s report, though had yet to see it.
“We hope that this report helps to guide a meaningful discussion of the many factors contributing to the issue of cost increases both here and across the country,’’ said Partners spokesman Rich Copp.You better get that condition treated, guy; crap falling out your mouth.
--more--"
And still no one can figure it out:
"Spending on the insured rises; Outpatient care at expensive Mass. hospitals fuels hike" by Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff | February 13, 2010
In just three years, medical spending on privately insured Massachusetts residents grew more than 15 percent, fueled in large part by outpatient care in expensive hospitals, according to three reports released yesterday examining the state’s climbing health care costs.
The findings by Massachusetts regulators bolster Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal this week to give the state the power to cap health care price increases.
Related: Patrick wants health cost veto
Sorry, readers, but I didn't analyze that one. Didn't even read it. Just a space-filler.
The reports also provide a preview of state hearings scheduled to begin March 16, investigating why medical costs here are so high compared with the United States as a whole - and to propose solutions....
Sigh, They already know! We are being overcharged!
State regulators also examined insurance premiums and the impact of growing medical costs on businesses, concluding that average monthly premiums grew 12.2 percent from 2006 to 2008....
Related: The Massachusetts Model: Destroying Small Business
The Massachusetts Hospital Association said in a statement that the reports fail to address the role inadequate government payments for Medicaid and Medicare patients play in pushing up health care costs.
What are your taxes and premiums paying for other than corporate welfare and political perks, Bay-Staters?
Hospitals are forced to make up for these poor payments by charging private insurers more, the group has said.
“It is important to remember that just as there is no single ‘silver bullet’ to conquer costs, neither is there one member of the healthcare community that is single-handedly responsible for causing costs to increase,’’ the association said....
But Partner's is a big part of it.
