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Posts Tagged ‘Mayo Clinic’
October 12th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Medicare for All, Except the Mayo Clinic
Posted by Print

President Obama loves the Mayo Clinic.  President Obama loves Medicare.  But the Mayo Clinic doesn’t love Medicare.

The Arizona Republic reported on Friday that,

One of the Mayo Clinic’s two family-medicine practices in Arizona soon will stop accepting Medicare, leaving thousands of patients to pay out of pocket for routine doctor’s visits or find a new physician. … Hospital officials called the new policy a ‘two year pilot program’ and said Thursday that the changes are necessary because of low Medicare reimbursement rates.”

Does anyone recall that one of the provisions of “health care reform” is to reduce Medicare reimbursements to doctors even further?  Medical insurance that doctors won’t take just doesn’t seem like a healthy reform.

October 2nd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Obama’s Mayo Sandwich
Posted by Print

President Obama has frequently cited the Mayo Clinic as an example of excellent health care at affordable prices.  In July, Mayo criticized part of House “health care reform” plans.  Now, Mayo’s CEO, Dr. Denis A. Cortese, tells The New York Times that “he is disgusted with the way Washington is approaching an overhaul of the nation’s health care system.”

In an interview with Reed Abelson, Cortese said, “Look at all the time we’re wasting.  It’s pretty heartbreaking to watch.”

Abelson: 

Citing Medicare’s track record, Dr. Cortese said he would urge Congress to create a national package of health insurance options modeled after the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan.

“That program allows civil servants to choose from a wide range of insurance offerings, with dozens of health insurers participating.  If people want more generous coverage, they have to pay more.  The plans are vetted by the government, which also restricts the amount of profit the insurers can make on the basic policies.”

To read the brief article online, which is slightly different from the print version, go here.