Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients

Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.

More than 3,000 patients eligible for Medicare, the government’s largest health-insurance program, will be forced to pay cash if they want to continue seeing their doctors at a Mayo family clinic in Glendale, northwest of Phoenix, said Michael Yardley, a Mayo spokesman. The decision, which Yardley called a two-year pilot project, won’t affect other Mayo facilities in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota.

Obama in June cited the nonprofit Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for offering “the highest quality care at costs well below the national norm.” Mayo’s move to drop Medicare patients may be copied by family doctors, some of whom have stopped accepting new patients from the program, said Lori Heim, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, in a telephone interview yesterday.

“Many physicians have said, ‘I simply cannot afford to keep taking care of Medicare patients,’” said Heim, a family doctor who practices in Laurinburg, North Carolina. “If you truly know your business costs and you are losing money, it doesn’t make sense to do more of it.”

Medicare Loss

The Mayo organization had 3,700 staff physicians and scientists and treated 526,000 patients in 2008. It lost $840 million last year on Medicare, the government’s health program for the disabled and those 65 and older, Mayo spokeswoman Lynn Closway said.

Click to expand...

Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients - Bloomberg.com

Remember folks, the Senate just passed more Government in your life, more Government healthcare coming. Don't be fooled, they want everyone on a Medicare type single payer system. This is our future unless we stop it.

MrVicchio said:

Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients - Bloomberg.com

Remember folks, the Senate just passed more Government in your life, more Government healthcare coming. Don't be fooled, they want everyone on a Medicare type single payer system. This is our future unless we stop it.

Click to expand...

While it certainly sucks for those who won't be able to use those services anymore, it does work towards my agenda.

Government pricing models are inadequate and when you compound that with the generous services that Medicare offers at below market rates, you get cost inflation.

The Mayo organization had 3,700 staff physicians and scientists and treated 526,000 patients in 2008. It lost $840 million last year on Medicare, the government’s health program for the disabled and those 65 and older, Mayo spokeswoman Lynn Closway said.

Click to expand...

That represents an $840,000,000 annual subsidy from for-profit insurers to Medicare.

Goddamn for-profit insurers, always trying to ruin America. If only we could eliminate them, we could prevent travesties like this.

Next Mayo announcement will be that they are moving the clinic to Nebraska where federal medical care money has moved. A new twist on "follow the money".

With the announcements in the reduction of medicare payments coming under Obama's I Don't Care About Your Health Plans, the House and Senate have become the Death panel they claim does not exist.

But because they a branches of the new corrupt to the max Obama disciple controlled Government and technically not a panel, they can continue to claim there is no such thing as a death panel.

If you go out and get some illness that the Obama plan to have die plan won't cover it's your own damn fault.

More and more of this is going to be happening and when doctors more out of fields like soo many have already done with O.B.G.Y.N. rationing becaomes a bigger problem.

You have to be a really stupid idiot to think for one minute the plans under consideration are going to do anything but make the best health care system comparable to Canada and the U.K. who both have systems that are almost as bad as Kenya or some other 3rd world garbage pit.

I live in Phoenix, and I am familar with the Mayo Clinic in question. This particular clinic is like a family practice clinic where patients can go see a primary care physical for common illnesses. In reading the tread this is the only Mayo clinic that has taken this measure. There is another clinic in Scottsdale that is like a diagnositic center, and they did not change there practice. Medicare is still accepted at this and other Mayo Clinics.

Like anything in life, if you want something expensive, you should have the means to pay for it.

Medicare should not get stuck with paying for expensive treatment for patients, if a patient can recieve the same treatment for less at a non-Mayo clinic. On the same note, Mayo should not have to lower its prices to accomodate Medicare patients.

TBone said:

I live in Phoenix, and I am familar with the Mayo Clinic in question. This particular clinic is like a family practice clinic where patients can go see a primary care physical for common illnesses. In reading the tread this is the only Mayo clinic that has taken this measure. There is another clinic in Scottsdale that is like a diagnositic center, and they did not change there practice. Medicare is still accepted at this and other Mayo Clinics.

Like anything in life, if you want something expensive, you should have the means to pay for it.

Medicare should not get stuck with paying for expensive treatment for patients, if a patient can recieve the same treatment for less at a non-Mayo clinic. On the same note, Mayo should not have to lower its prices to accomodate Medicare patients.

Click to expand...

You think this is about the Mayo Clinic being over priced?

I'm on Medicare here in Texas. I also have supplemental insurance to cover the "gap." As for how it is administered, I like it. Piece of cake. But here is the catch. I'm able to see my own personal physician BECAUSE I was a former patient on private insurance. Effectively I was "grandfathered" in because I am a long time patient. What I have found is that he is no longer accepting NEW Medicare patients because it doesn't cover the costs. More and more people who go onto Medicare are going to have to deal with this problem. Most doctors will not accept Medicaid because it doesn't even pay for the administration of the paperwork. And now this is spreading to Medicare as well.

This is what happens when "Big Brother" distorts the free market place where the value of everything is eventually settled. Most everything so far as I know that Medicare pays for is something the government dictates (sorta like the Soviet Union, Cuba or some communist nation would do). How they arrive at these amounts is up to some bureaucrat who may not know his or her way to the bathroom. It certainly is not market based.

Anytime the market is upset by the government you can be certain that chaos, poor service and dissatisfaction will be the result. The truth is that our government is our enemy. That's why the framers of our Constitution set so many limits on what it could do. Unfortunately those in power today have decided that the "general welfare" clause overrides every other thing in the Constitution and that we need to emulate the Soviet Union because it worked so very well. Hooray for big government! Ain't Amerika grand?

There is a lesson here. Be careful of what you wish for; you just might get it.

MrVicchio said:

You think this is about the Mayo Clinic being over priced?

Click to expand...

It is great that you brought up this point. If the Mayo clinic. which has been a poster child for Obamacare is taking this action, think about what it means for overall health care services.

In a competitve world, I wonder if this will mean that our brighest kids will deicde to work in a nation that does not cater to those who contribute nothing to society.

RightinNYC said:

That represents an $840,000,000 annual subsidy from for-profit insurers to Medicare.

Goddamn for-profit insurers, always trying to ruin America. If only we could eliminate them, we could prevent travesties like this.

Click to expand...

So can the left and Obama explain how a medical facility can run if medicare is paying less then the care cost?

TBone said:

I live in Phoenix, and I am familar with the Mayo Clinic in question. This particular clinic is like a family practice clinic where patients can go see a primary care physical for common illnesses. In reading the tread this is the only Mayo clinic that has taken this measure. There is another clinic in Scottsdale that is like a diagnositic center, and they did not change there practice. Medicare is still accepted at this and other Mayo Clinics.

Like anything in life, if you want something expensive, you should have the means to pay for it.

Medicare should not get stuck with paying for expensive treatment for patients, if a patient can recieve the same treatment for less at a non-Mayo clinic. On the same note, Mayo should not have to lower its prices to accomodate Medicare patients.

Click to expand...

So we should expect more inferior healthcare under the new government plan

ptif219 said:

So explain how a medical facility can run if medicare is paying less then the care cost?

Click to expand...

The medical facility builds those losses into what it charges insurance companies. That is why this blaming of the insurance companies for raisinf costs is a blatant lie trumped up by those who want this single payer sustem.

BTW, who is really the " insurance company" for most people in America. Answer, their employer. Many big companies now just use insurance companies to process the paperwork. The companies decide stuff like caps and co-pays.

This whole process has been a joke on the majority of Americans who do not really know how things work and live on sound bites from people with an agenda.

Here is a quote that works for the American public today:

" People get the government they deserve".

Most of these comments are hilarious, full of denial. Not once is the private insurance and medical industry blamed for anything.. all blame is put on government and the idea of UHC.. pathetic.

PeteEU said:

Most of these comments are hilarious, full of denial. Not once is the private insurance and medical industry blamed for anything.. all blame is put on government and the idea of UHC.. pathetic.

Click to expand...

You have anything substantive to add?

Ironically, I just off the phone with a neighbor on vacation near Arizona and they found it necessary to go to an "Urgent Care" center and the up-front cost was $250 to see a Physician's Assistant and NO Medicare. Cash on the barrel head.

More and more of these "Urgent Care" centers are popping up and at least the one close to me they are the result of a collaboration of various physicians who wanted out of the strait jacket of conventional medicine. To my knowledge they do accept Medicare but don't know that for an absolute fact.

The truth is that we have a total mess of medical care in the U.S. today. I've given this example before but let me do it here as well. In 1968 I had a small growth taken off my lip for $29 cash up front. About five years ago the exact same procedure cost about $6,000 after all the costs were added up.

I pity the poor younger people who are going to be saddled with the result of whatever comes from medical care reform. I'll be dead and long forgotten and the younger people will be in debt up to their eyeballs paying for this craziness. A birth that used to cost $300 now costs well over $12,000 and many are those born to illegal immigrants almost entirely paid by American citizen taxpayers. I used to be able to go to see my doctor for $10 cash including any minor in-office surgery. When I was very young, it cost $2 for an office visit for doctor's home visitation. A tooth was pulled for $2 and a filling for a cavity was 50 cents. Sometimes the fees were just waived if the problem wasn't deemed serious.

We are so screwed it will prove to be the ruination of this nation. Even Obama said that this would bankrupt the nation if not fixed although he had in mind a Soviet style government mandated program. While market based solutions will work such as laser eye surgery which is not covered and costs have come down, anything the government touches turns to that brown stuff.

The crazy thing about all this discussion about medical care reform is that it could have sailed right through Congress and onto the President's desk if only two provisions were put into any bill. Those stipulations would have been interstate competition of insurance companies which are exempt from the normal anti-trust provisions and the second was tort reform. But they will never happen because the insurance companies buy off Congress which are largely composed of lawyers. The US today is an oligarchy of special interests and legal strait jackets. That is why it will inevitably self-destruct.

American said:

You have anything substantive to add?

Click to expand...

Do you? Do you deny my comment that the problem lies with the insurance industry and the medical industry? That they are driving up the cost of healthcare in the US?

http://www.oecd.org/document/11/0,3343,en_2649_34631_16502667_1_1_1_1,00.html#B5

over 7000 dollars for every man, woman and child now per year..almost double that of the nearest country who btw, provides healthcare for all.

PeteEU said:

Do you? Do you deny my comment that the problem lies with the insurance industry and the medical industry? That they are driving up the cost of healthcare in the US?

Health at a Glance 2009

over 7000 dollars for every man, woman and child now per year..almost double that of the nearest country who btw, provides healthcare for all.

Click to expand...

Yes, and there are quite a few government causes for these rises, which you ignore because to you, government is supposed to "manage" people's lives, because people are too stupid to exist without the benevolent administration of Government in their lives.

washunut said:

The medical facility builds those losses into what it charges insurance companies. That is why this blaming of the insurance companies for raisinf costs is a blatant lie trumped up by those who want this single payer sustem.

BTW, who is really the " insurance company" for most people in America. Answer, their employer. Many big companies now just use insurance companies to process the paperwork. The companies decide stuff like caps and co-pays.

This whole process has been a joke on the majority of Americans who do not really know how things work and live on sound bites from people with an agenda.

Here is a quote that works for the American public today:

" People get the government they deserve".

Click to expand...

No prices are negotiated. Medicare pays below what allows a medical facility costs are. Insurance companies allow for a profit for medical facilities.


Medical facilities inflate prices to allow negotiating. This does not happen with medicare the government tells facilities what they will get, no negotiations. The cost of the care is not the governments problem and the government does not care.

MrVicchio said:

Yes, and there are quite a few government causes for these rises, which you ignore because to you, government is supposed to "manage" people's lives, because people are too stupid to exist without the benevolent administration of Government in their lives.

Click to expand...

Oh I dont deny that there are government causes in the US, but a huge majority of the causes are due to the greed of the private sector, who btw often lobbies the government to do those "causes" because it will profit the private sector.

The American people are not a factor in the healthcare debate.. greed and profit and power are all that matters.

PeteEU said:

Oh I dont deny that there are government causes in the US, but a huge majority of the causes are due to the greed of the private sector, who btw often lobbies the government to do those "causes" because it will profit the private sector.

The American people are not a factor in the healthcare debate.. greed and profit and power are all that matters.

Click to expand...

Just looked up your location....Looks beautiful! Government causes for health care problems are not limited to the US.

This paper describes the main healthcare rationing policies implemented in Spain over the last 2 decades, and analyses the consequences of these policies on the healthcare system, patients, healthcare practitioners, the pharmaceutical industry and policymakers. The primary explicit healthcare rationing policies utilised in Spain include a catalogue that defines the healthcare rights of citizens. However, the existing system may lead to inequity between regions, and is not structured to direct resources towards the most cost-effective options. Health technology assessment requires further work before it can be utilised widely for the development of rationing strategies. Selective reimbursement of drugs and drug co-payments provide only short-term results and appear to have little long-term impact on expenditure. Implicit rationing instruments, especially waiting lists, have had a significant effect on healthcare quality and the welfare of citizens, and have contributed to keeping the Spanish healthcare budget under control. Newer regulations should integrate some form of economic evaluation within the policy-making processes associated with healthcare. Further research is needed to identify those efficient and equitable rationing instruments that are most likely to improve health interventions for an aging society that is increasingly demanding of health services.


Healthcare rationing in Spain : Framework, descriptive analysis and consequences

Click to expand...

So according to analysis of your own country's system, a model (the European one) of healthcare redistribution, it states plainly that over the past two decades that this has been in place, it has been a huge failure. Yet you criticize the US for its system? Now that takes some chutzpah.


j-mac

MrVicchio said:

Remember folks, the Senate just passed more Government in your life, more Government healthcare coming. Don't be fooled, they want everyone on a Medicare type single payer system. This is our future unless we stop it.

Click to expand...

As usual, your comment is a partisan talking point that is barely related to the story. For you, it's all about the headline and adding a negative partisan spin. The complexities of issue be damned. I guess if you had read past the first few paragraphs, you'd better understand the factors that lead to this decision.

The facility claims it can't cover its costs with some medicare patients--most likely the long-term care of Alzheimer's and dementia patients. The Mayo Clinic is a non-profit organization, so their business model is different than a privately run medical corp. Also, a big part of the Mayo Clinic's mission is medical research and innovative procedures.

There is no shortage of good doctors and facilities in Phoenix that will treat medicare patients. Let's hope they all get good counseling and make informed end-of-life decisions.

The were a number of points in the article you chose to ignore:

Mayo’s Medicare losses in Arizona may be worse than typical for doctors across the U.S., Heim said. Physician costs vary depending on business expenses such as office rent and payroll. “It is very common that we hear that Medicare is below costs or barely covering costs,” Heim said.

Mayo will continue to accept Medicare as payment for laboratory services and specialist care such as cardiology and neurology, Yardley said.

Click to expand...

Robert Berenson, a fellow at the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C., said physicians’ claims of inadequate reimbursement are overstated. Rather, the program faces a lack of medical providers because not enough new doctors are becoming family doctors, internists and pediatricians who oversee patients’ primary care.

Click to expand...

hazlnut said:

As usual, your comment is a partisan talking point that is barely related to the story. For you, it's all about the headline and adding a negative partisan spin. The complexities of issue be damned. I guess if you had read past the first few paragraphs, you'd better understand the factors that lead to this decision.

The facility claims it can't cover its costs with some medicare patients--most likely the long-term care of Alzheimer's and dementia patients. The Mayo Clinic is a non-profit organization, so their business model is different than a privately run medical corp. Also, a big part of the Mayo Clinic's mission is medical research and innovative procedures.

There is no shortage of good doctors and facilities in Phoenix that will treat medicare patients. Let's hope they all get good counseling and make informed end-of-life decisions.
The were a number of points in the article you chose to ignore:

Click to expand...

So you take the word of a huge Obama supporter in Robert Berenson, and dismiss anything to the contrary....Typical. BTW, if interested, here are Berenson's campaign donations.


Robert Berenson - $16,800 in Political Contributions for 2008


Sorry Hazlnut, FAIL!


j-mac

j-mac said:

So you take the word of a huge Obama supporter in Robert Berenson, and dismiss anything to the contrary....Typical. BTW, if interested, here are Berenson's campaign donations.


Robert Berenson - $16,800 in Political Contributions for 2008


Sorry Hazlnut, FAIL!


j-mac

Click to expand...

Can you state how Berenson is wrong instead of drawing imaginary conspiracy theory lines? That would be great. Thanks.

Hatuey said:

Can you state how Berenson is wrong instead of drawing imaginary conspiracy theory lines? That would be great. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I didn't say he was necessarily wrong, I would confess that I am not privy to all the data that he may have, and I might add neither are you, or hazlnut. But, to take his conclusion at face value considering that he is such a big supporter of Obama and his plans, I think would be foolish.


j-mac

j-mac said:

So you take the word of a huge Obama supporter in Robert Berenson, and dismiss anything to the contrary....

Click to expand...

J-mac:

I read the entire article and commented on several different aspects of the issue.

You ignored the comments and made an feeble Ad Hominem attack-- rejecting Berenson's statement on the basis of some irrelevant fact.

I understand the complexities of the Medicare issue make it difficult to come up with an articulate point of view--it requires a little knowledge about the issue and some thought.

Why not give it the ol' college try, eh? Read. Think.