The commercial was scary. There were children, CHILDREN, and old people, OLD PEOPLE, facing the possibility of being deprived access to needed health care! Why? Insurance companies and Congress are trying to solve the Surprise Medical Billing problem by denying fair payment to doctors. The safety net could be “Shredded”. The commercial was sponsored by Physicians for Fair Coverage.
The first time I saw this on Morning Joe I turned to Sally and said, “BS”. Neither H.R. 3630, the No Surprises Act, moving through the US House nor the Senate Bill 1895, Lower Health Care Costs Act, address Surprise Billing for Medicaid or Medicare. A recently released study revealed that in 2016 approximately 40% of privately insured patients received a bill from a medical provider that was not in their insurance network. Privately insured. That is the definition of Surprise Billing. The commercial didn’t come close to the real problem.
This sleight of hand did not go unnoticed. Rachel Bluth, a reporter for Kaiser Health News, also had her doubts. Here is a link to her well researched article.
It would appear that Forbes Tate Partners, the public relations firm that produced the ad, believes that we can solve this problem by forcing the consumer into arbitration. With the deck stacked against the patients, their clients, the free-agent E/R doctors and anesthesiologists, will then get paid whatever they’d like. Well I have a surprise for them – that ain’t gonna happen.
DAVE
Picture – Arbitrate This – David L Cunix
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