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Feds approve cost controls for Obamacare med procedures.
[PBS] WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has given the go-ahead for insurers and employers to use a new cost-control strategy that puts a hard dollar limit on what health plans pay for some expensive procedures, such as knee and hip replacements.The elderly don't require mobility. Mobility and exercise extend life expectancy and create a pathway for future claims. Some experts worry that such a move would surprise patients who pick more expensive hospitals. The cost difference would leave them with big medical bills that they'd have to pay themselves. Or more likely forego the procedure, which is the gov't objective. That could undercut key financial protections in President Barack Obama's health care law that apply not just to the new health insurance exchanges, but to most job-based coverage as well. But of course! The dollar caps will no doubt catch on quickly. Others say it's a valuable tool to reduce costs and help check premiums. Others say it's Some federal regulators appear to be concerned. A recent administration policy ruling went to unusual lengths, acknowledging that the cost-control strategy "may be a subterfuge" for "otherwise prohibited limitations on coverage." HELLO! The entire Obama regime is a case study in "subterfuge." Posted by: Besoeker 2014-05-18 |
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