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Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan have come together to get healthcare for their employees. They are forming a new company to try to streamline care. How they will do this is still unknown. Amazon has already entered the pharmaceutical industry and have purchased Whole Foods where new clinics or pharmacies may open.
In jolly olde England the AP reports multiple horror stories in the NHS. This is due to the heavy flu season as it was last year. An 81 year old died waiting for an ambulance for four hours while having chest pains. Another young woman in pain laid for five hours on a hospital floor due to no hospital beds. Thousands of surgeries have been cancelled to be rescheduled when? These and other stories are due to years of chronic underfunding by the government of the NHS. The NHS is not exactly a wonderful organization as it is bloated by do nothing bureaucrats and employs over one million. Funding was set at 1% increase a year during the economic financial crisis in 2010 and demand for services is up 4% per year. On top of that physicians are leaving or planning to leave the country due to Brexit. Increased taxes or co-pays are not politically palatable and will not be done. Top
As reported in the last edition of Medicalaw.net Affinity Medical Center in Massillon, Ohio is being closed by Quorum. The Dems have considered eminent domain to keep it open but that is a dead end. They went to court and got a 120 day extension to the closing.
Cleveland Clinic is after big money. They are opening in their Florida operation a concierge practice for only $4000 per year. Nobody charges that much. My physician is concierge and I pay $ 1600 per year.
The Manchester VA in New Hampshire is accused by the feds as ignoring physician and staff whistleblowing regarding patient endangerment resulting in the injury of multiple patients from spinal cord diseases. The physicians complained of fly infested operating rooms, unsterilized instruments and ignored patients. The top brass has been replaced, not fired. The VA did nothing about any complaints until a newspaper published a story about their terrible care. Top
Robert Van Bovan, a Texas physician, is a beacon for the oppressed physician. He was accused by his hospital of "boundary violations" with two patients and unprofessional conduct with another. The Texas Medical Board gave him a practice restriction which has lasted almost three years. He appealed the Board ruling to the State Office of Administrative Hearings and won. The Medical Board then concurred and restored his unrestricted license. However, in typical vindictive medical board manner, they kept his original NPDB filing intact. He now is having to go directly to the NPDB to have his record expunged. Top
Physicians
Missouri, the show me state, has no physician disciplined by the state board last year for overprescribing opiods.
Modern Healthcare says that physicians are not dropping out of Medicare as rapidly as they did. They do acknowledge that physicians no longer have to continue to opt out as now once they are opted out they have to reapply to rejoin. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this
article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.