John Adams Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Medicare reimbursements for home-health care are determined in part by the number of therapy visits each patient receives, with an extra fee kicking in as soon as a patient hits a certain number of visits. The bonus was designed to ensure providers didn't stint on therapy visits. In 2008 Medicare altered the number of visits required to trigger bonus payments. Instead of offering companies a bonus of a few thousand dollars after they reached a 10-visit threshold, it instead offered smaller bonuses at thresholds of six, 14 and 20 visits. After it did so, Amedisys, the largest of the three home-health companies, altered its clinical protocols to match the change, the committee alleges. "We need to work immediately to adjust our '10 therapy threshold' mind-set," one Amedisys executive in Florida wrote to subordinates in a Feb. 27, 2008, email cited by the committee's report, referring to the number of home visits that used to, but now no longer, triggered a Medicare bonus. By increasing the number of visits its nurses made to patients' homes to 14 to match Medicare's new reimbursement system, Amedisys stood to earn $880 more per patient, the executive wrote in the email. Turns out that when you set up a system that reimburses caregivers 100% for the services they provide, the providers try to maximize their profits by providing the most profitable services. Shocking I tell you! http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576606791708892886.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Turns out that when you set up a system that reimburses caregivers 100% for the services they provide, the providers try to maximize their profits by providing the most profitable services. Shocking I tell you! http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204612504576606791708892886.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories This proves the free market is broken, which is why we need more government involvement. Pay no attention to the fact that it's government involvement that !@#$ed up the market to begin with. Has nothing to do with anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Miner Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 This proves the free market is broken, which is why we need more government involvement. Pay no attention to the fact that it's government involvement that !@#$ed up the market to begin with. Has nothing to do with anything. Oh, I thought it just proved how the people making the laws and regulations had no idea how the things that were under those laws and regulations worked. My bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Oh, I thought it just proved how the people making the laws and regulations had no idea how the things that were under those laws and regulations worked. My bad. Didn't read the hidden text in my post, did you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Didn't read the hidden text in my post, did you? How do you get your text to hide like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 How do you get your text to hide like that? Ask Sammy how he finds his favorite hiding places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Ask Sammy how he finds his favorite hiding places. Sammy is a living thing but text is just something you type. I had no idea that text had ability to think on its own. Weird though because text really has only one thing to say and that defines it as an entity. Why would it hide who it really is? If it hides it is nothing. Unless it wants to be found. But then why would it hide? Does text get pissed at whoever types it if the text turns out to be something stupid? Can you imagine being text typed by Booster? It really isn't fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Miner Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Didn't read the hidden text in my post, did you? Next time I'll try squeezing a lemon on my monitor first to see if the heat brings out your invisible e-ink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Next time I'll try squeezing a lemon on my monitor first to see if the heat brings out your invisible e-ink. That could mess up your computer. Just hold down the left mouse button and scroll over the empty area. Practice here. Did it work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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