Aggressive marketing, outreach to law enforcement, outreach to emergency room doctors and hospital staff is a way to fill psych beds with referrals. Although inpatient psychiatric hospitals are sometimes needed in extreme cases, they are ripe for abuse.
Category: Public Insurance
George Halvorson’s Response to MedPac
The people enrolled in the Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare coverage and those millions of people have the highest health care needs in the country.
80% of the very lowest income Medicare enrollees are in MA plans.
MA plans have 40% fewer hospital admissions for congestive heart failure, and almost 80% lower amputation rates for the lowest income diabetic member.
Medicare Advantage costs 18% less than the average cost of fee-for-service Medicare at this point in time.
Source: The Heath Care Blog
Where Did All the Covid Relief Money Go?
Most absurd, nearly $2 billion of American Rescue Plan funds were earmarked for nonexistent county governments in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Source: Jacob Lane, Wall Street Journal
Bogus Research is Very Costly
Publishing one’s findings from research allows others to test the theories and build on them in future research. This collaborative approach often roots out bogus findings, but sometimes safeguards fail, and researchers are led down the wrong path.