Sliceitup wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 5:43 pm
Patients on a ventilator take a extraordinary amount of care. It would be ridiculous for Medicare to pay hospitals the same for an unventilated patient and one on a ventilator. The amount of patients that one nurse can take care of is drastically reduced when they’re on a ventilator.
This isn’t rocket science.
Medicaid/Medicare rates for ventilators have been established for a long time. Ventilators existed before COVID.
The 3X pay rate was based on already-existing rates.
Sliceitup wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 5:43 pm
Patients on a ventilator take a extraordinary amount of care. It would be ridiculous for Medicare to pay hospitals the same for an unventilated patient and one on a ventilator. The amount of patients that one nurse can take care of is drastically reduced when they’re on a ventilator.
This isn’t rocket science.
Medicaid/Medicare rates for ventilators have been established for a long time. Ventilators existed before COVID.
The 3X pay rate was based on already-existing rates.
It was FAR more expensive for hospitals to do COVID treatment with ventilators than for ordinary non-pandemic ventilator use such as a heavy smoker with COPB or bronchial asthma. That is because, unlike most ordinary ventilator usage, for COVID treatment hospitals had to set up isolation wards, put all staff up to janitorial staff in heavy PPE, run negative pressures and so forth. All those infectious disease protocols are hugely more expensive and time consuming than simply putting grandpa on a ventilator in his ordinary hospital room because he has emphysema and charging Medicaid the standard rate. Remember, most of the COVID ventilator use was in 2020 before vaccines were available so hospitals and staff had to be extraordinarily vigilant about infectious disease control while also treating people on ventilators.
Going into COVID mode in 2020 also meant that hospitals had to cancel most of their other elective services and shift staff and facilities to COVID duty. That all cost a fortune.
Whether the COVID reimbursement rates for hospitals were reasonable I have no idea. But there is no doubt that COVID emergency treatment at hospitals, especially during the first year of the pandemic, was far more costly to hospitals than any routine non-pandemic care in the pre-COVID era.
1 x
A fool can throw out more questions than a wise man can answer. -RZehr
Ernie wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 1:07 pm
I'm wondering what statistics and trends are happening as a result of the overturning of Roe Vs. Wade.
1. Are people moving to different states as a result of this?
2. Are the "trigger laws" being enforced?
etc.
Rare photo of another stork delivery:
It’s been a few months since the RvW overturn. More births? More abortions? More political fear mongering?
[i’ve never anticipated more births as a result of overturning RvW.] Certainly not 1 to 1 births! ..
there are too many ready alternatives for PREVENTION of pregnancy.
i’m pro choice: Choose BEFORE conception!
i’m pretty sure prevention is the much better choice, and it’s another insult to human intelligence to suggest otherwise.
As a starting place: Can “we” stop telling people of child-bearing years they are hapless victims of carnal instincts?
Ken wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 12:44 pm\
Whether the COVID reimbursement rates for hospitals were reasonable I have no idea. But there is no doubt that COVID emergency treatment at hospitals, especially during the first year of the pandemic, was far more costly to hospitals than any routine non-pandemic care in the pre-COVID era.
Yet despite this, the health-care industry earned huge profits - and is now 20% of America's economy.
Ken wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 12:44 pm\
Whether the COVID reimbursement rates for hospitals were reasonable I have no idea. But there is no doubt that COVID emergency treatment at hospitals, especially during the first year of the pandemic, was far more costly to hospitals than any routine non-pandemic care in the pre-COVID era.
Yet despite this, the health-care industry earned huge profits - and is now 20% of America's economy.
Ken wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 12:44 pm\
Whether the COVID reimbursement rates for hospitals were reasonable I have no idea. But there is no doubt that COVID emergency treatment at hospitals, especially during the first year of the pandemic, was far more costly to hospitals than any routine non-pandemic care in the pre-COVID era.
Yet despite this, the health-care industry earned huge profits - and is now 20% of America's economy.
Americans are sicker than ever.
Correlation =/= causation...
If I went from spending 6% of my household income on car repairs to 20%, yet my vehicles were breaking down more often, I might consider finding a new mechanic.
Ken wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 12:44 pm\
Whether the COVID reimbursement rates for hospitals were reasonable I have no idea. But there is no doubt that COVID emergency treatment at hospitals, especially during the first year of the pandemic, was far more costly to hospitals than any routine non-pandemic care in the pre-COVID era.
Yet despite this, the health-care industry earned huge profits - and is now 20% of America's economy.
Americans are sicker than ever.
Yes, we have a for-profit health care insurance system and health care industry unlike pretty much any other developed nation. And our health care costs are about double that of any other nation but with poorer results.
One might actually think that free market capitalism isn't always the answer to every single social problem
1 x
A fool can throw out more questions than a wise man can answer. -RZehr
Yet despite this, the health-care industry earned huge profits - and is now 20% of America's economy.
Americans are sicker than ever.
Correlation =/= causation...
If I went from spending 6% of my household income on car repairs to 20%, yet my vehicles were breaking down more often, I might consider finding a new mechanic.
Or maybe stop blaming your mechanic for your driving habits and stop abusing your vehicles.
1 x
A fool can throw out more questions than a wise man can answer. -RZehr
Ken wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 12:44 pm\
Whether the COVID reimbursement rates for hospitals were reasonable I have no idea. But there is no doubt that COVID emergency treatment at hospitals, especially during the first year of the pandemic, was far more costly to hospitals than any routine non-pandemic care in the pre-COVID era.
Yet despite this, the health-care industry earned huge profits - and is now 20% of America's economy.
Americans are sicker than ever.
Yes, we have a for-profit health care insurance system and health care industry unlike pretty much any other developed nation. And our health care costs are about double that of any other nation but with poorer results.
One might actually think that free market capitalism isn't always the answer to every single social problem
Yet despite this, the health-care industry earned huge profits - and is now 20% of America's economy.
Americans are sicker than ever.
Yes, we have a for-profit health care insurance system and health care industry unlike pretty much any other developed nation. And our health care costs are about double that of any other nation but with poorer results.
One might actually think that free market capitalism isn't always the answer to every single social problem
Most hospitals are nonprofits.
You mean like, for example, Ascension Health (the largest Catholic hospital chain in the US) which had a net profits of $5.7 BILLION in 2021 and who paid their CEO Anthony Tersigni a cool $14 million?
