The Department of Justice is out to get you...

[hippuppy]

---

Members don't see this ad.

While I can't say I am suprised about this...I still get sick to my stomach. Check out this link about the limit the federal government is going towards our profession.


http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Mise...31/Justice-Department-declares-war-on-doctors

 

[urge]

Change you can believe in...

 

[Mman]

Getting together as a group and agreeing to not treat worker's comp patients was probably not a good idea. And then getting together and threatening to all pull out of Blue Cross if they didn't get better contract rates was also not the best idea.


Who came up with this idea in the first place?

It's one thing for a single group to negotiate a contract, but when lots of independent groups/individuals start getting together and trying to put a gun to the government or insurance companies head it isn't going to go well.

 

[countingdays]

Getting together as a group and agreeing to not treat worker's comp patients was probably not a good idea. And then getting together and threatening to all pull out of Blue Cross if they didn't get better contract rates was also not the best idea.


Who came up with this idea in the first place?

It's one thing for a single group to negotiate a contract, but when lots of independent groups/individuals start getting together and trying to put a gun to the government or insurance companies head it isn't going to go well.

What are you talking about?
Are we slaves of the government now, forced to work and unable to demand fair payment?
It's not a good idea to refuse underpayment for services from Blue Cross?

It's a wonderful idea to choose your own work as a free man. It's disgusting that our government has become what it is today.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

What are you talking about?

I think that what he means is that it wasn't wise because of the existing antitrust laws and soforth and their interpretation made what the physicians did problematic.

What is more disturbing to me is that the DOJ handled the prosecution.

 

[Noyac]

Getting together as a group and agreeing to not treat worker's comp patients was probably not a good idea. And then getting together and threatening to all pull out of Blue Cross if they didn't get better contract rates was also not the best idea.

Groups have been doing this for as long as I can remember, good idea or not.

 

[IDBasco]

Wow. There were a lot of orthopods that were renegotiating with BC in Boise in 2008. Way more than just the 5 that are mentioned there. The local paper stopped just short of calling them greedy.

 

[2win]

While I can't say I am suprised about this...I still get sick to my stomach. Check out this link about the limit the federal government is going towards our profession.


http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Mise...31/Justice-Department-declares-war-on-doctors

"Atlas Shrugged" doesn't sound fictional anymore...
This country is on the path to self destruction.
2win

 

[Slack3r]

It cites at one point that physicians are "unable to refuse to deal with a payer". Does that mean physicians are no longer able to decline to accept certain types of insurance? Kinda scary...

 

[pd4emergence]

Getting together as a group and agreeing to not treat worker's comp patients was probably not a good idea. And then getting together and threatening to all pull out of Blue Cross if they didn't get better contract rates was also not the best idea.


Who came up with this idea in the first place?

It's one thing for a single group to negotiate a contract, but when lots of independent groups/individuals start getting together and trying to put a gun to the government or insurance companies head it isn't going to go well.

Unions do it all the time. My question is why is it wrong for someone to be able to negotiate fees for services rendered. Why is it illegal for physcians to collectively negotiate? The fact that we can't gives insurance companies and medicare/medicaid an unfair advantage. If the group no longer wants to take workers' comp then why should they have to? It's a free country right?

 

[IlDestriero]

The problem with becoming a socialistic nanny state is not that we are, if that's what the American dream has become 🙁, but it's that we can't afford to become one. What's been done can be undone, but it won't be. Which leads to one inevitable conclusion, austerity measures.
Which will include even lower reimbursement. One day we will look back at our 20 year old Benzes and say, "I remember when..."

 

[McGillGrad]

Unions do it all the time. My question is why is it wrong for someone to be able to negotiate fees for services rendered. Why is it illegal for physcians to collectively negotiate? The fact that we can't gives insurance companies and medicare/medicaid an unfair advantage. If the group no longer wants to take workers' comp then why should they have to? It's a free country right?

It is based on the premise of the "greater good." It is similar to why air traffic controllers, police, military personal and firemen cannot go on strike. It's because the results would be disastrous for society. There is a line in the sand, and that's it.

NOW, is this what happened with these docs? Yes and no...but this is why they doctors are different than unionised workers who can goon strike.

 

[pd4emergence]

It is based on the premise of the "greater good." It is similar to why air traffic controllers, police, military personal and firemen cannot go on strike. It's because the results would be disastrous for society. There is a line in the sand, and that's it.

NOW, is this what happened with these docs? Yes and no...but this is why they doctors are different than unionised workers who can goon strike.

I am not talking about a strike. I am talking about a private business entity being able to negotiate a fair price for services provided. Please explain what you mean by the premise of the "greater good" and why my right to free enterprise should be suspended by this premise. Tell me where the line is.

 

[McGillGrad]

I am not talking about a strike. I am talking about a private business entity being able to negotiate a fair price for services provided. Please explain what you mean by the premise of the "greater good" and why my right to free enterprise should be suspended by this premise. Tell me where the line is.

If they all refuse to take any patients of a certain type, then they are collectively striking in order to change the reimbursement. The greater good is a notion that is lost to most people who were born after 1955-1960. It means, that if you are the only orthopods in a radius of 50-100 miles, and decide to refuse all workers comp cases, then you are collectively punishing the community as an impromptu union/cabal. Physicians are one of the few professions that cannot strike (for a myriad of legal and ethical reasons), so this is why this case is a complicated.

Please note that I have first hand experience with the excessive paperwork and research and bureaucratic gobbledegook thrust upon orthpods by the gov't in worker's comp cases. Physicians should not be in a position where they are forced to decide between staying in business or caring for patients.

This is an example where low reimbursements would mean closing down your practice...and that is preposterous.