Colorado woman Lisa French had back surgery in 2014. The admissions clerk at the hospital, St. Anthony North, mistakenly estimated her cost-sharing at $1,337. What the hospital clerk failed to realize was the hospital was out-of-network. Because the hospital was out of network it was not bound by a negotiated rate for the surgery. The hospital could bill at its so-called chargemaster rates, which are often two to three times typical rates health plans negotiate with in-network providers.
Category: COVID-19 and Public Health
You Think Covid is Bad? Smallpox Killed 30% of its Victims
America has just passed 1 million deaths from Covid-19. The death toll globally may have surpassed 15 million, according to the World Health Organization. That sounds bad and for the families and loved ones of those who have died it is horrendous. However, it could have been far worse. For those who contracted Covid-19 (as I have) it kills only about 0.7 percent of the people it infects. The most susceptible are those individuals with pre-existing conditions, the elderly, the frail, etc.
Nurses Against Competition with other Nurses
According to the Minnesota Board of Nursing:
The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) allows a nurse (RN and LPN/VN) to have one compact license in the nurse’s primary state of residence (the home state) with authority to practice in person or via telehealth in other compact states (remote states). The nurse must follow the nurse practice act of each state. The mission of the Nurse Licensure Compact is: The Nurse Licensure Compact advances public protection and access to care through the mutual recognition of one state-based license that is enforced locally and recognized nationally.
John Phelan at Econlib writes:
Currently 34 states are members of the compact. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated very clearly the benefits the NLC offers of being able to tap a larger workforce. Indeed, at the height of the pandemic in April 2020, Governor Walz signed an Executive Order allowing healthcare workers licensed in other states to work in Minnesota, effectively entering the state into the NLC.
Guess who’s against this idea? Minnesota nurses.