The maggots get a feast

FEDERAL TAXPAYERS TO PAY FOR ALASKA’S HEALTH INSURANCE

U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski commended the Trump Administration for granting the State of Alaska an “Innovation Waiver” under the Affordable Care Act.

The “innovation” part of the waiver is actually a transfer of the high cost of health insurance in Alaska to federal taxpayers.

Insurance should go down by 20 percent for consumers, said Seema Verma, administrator for the Affordable Care Act program at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

It’s unclear if the only insurer in the state, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, will actually lower the cost of insurance and there is no way to force it to. Premera of Alaska made $20 million in profits from “Obamacare” insurance plans in 2016.

The total grant is about $332 million of taxpayer money, according to Gov. Bill Walker. That equates to $15,000 for each of the 23,000 Alaskans who have had to enroll in the mandatory health insurance program.

The State applied for the grant following legislation signed by Walker last year, which gave $55 million to the Alaska Reinsurance Program to help reduce spiraling health insurance costs.

The federal government will reimburse the state $48 million next year. For the following four years, that number may increase with enrollment.

Premera has not yet announced what it will charge Alaskans for the coming year. Enrollment begins Nov. 1.

http://mustreadalaska.com/heads-tails-health-care-bailout-alaska/

Dogs...

Belly up to the trough.

Free money..........





....... is no different than blood money!

Great, why not look a bit closer at the real problem... I hate price controls and such, but I know a number of docs bringing in obscene money for an ordinary practice. Literally over 2 million for a couple different specialists that are absolutely not workaholics.

No one seemed to complain when Uncle Ted brought home the pork by the container ship load . . .

We should be proud of Dan and Lisa.

Wasn't the ratio under his tenure something like 13:1? (Fed dollars received : dollars paid to the Feds)

Depends on what and how you count... huge monies to Native Corps inflated his numbers... a lot.

Uncle Ted never got a bailout for obamacare. Lisa and Don Young have voted several times to fund it though. I suspect you could put Dan Sullivan in that group now.

I doubt you'll have any problem bailing out Illinois or california should the need arise.


Make America great again.

It's not a "bailout", it's a "subsidy" for the state with the highest health care costs in the nation.

No doubt you're heard of agricultural subsidies?

Is there any state in the union whose inhabitants have their teeth sunk into the government tit more firmly than Alaska?

Can't think who that might be.

Heck, If you charged a nominal fee for "tailgating" on the Emerald Rose, you could approach that amount. Might take longer than one year but, who knows??!!! Don't feed 'em grilled sheep meat though, don't want to spoil them.

LMAO


https://gov.alaska.gov/newsroom/201...safeguarding-alaskans-healthcare-access/

Most insurance companies will fly folks looking at surgery to Seattle on their dime First Class, and pay for the whole surgery there. And they come out ahead.

I am hating on Lisa, Sullivan, and Walker about equally these days.

Haters gonna hate.

Neighbor had her hip replaced in the Big 'Attle. They paid for her hubby to accompany and put them up in a hotel. I'm sure the Ins. Co. saved tens of thousands of dollars.

But how do you address the issue of docs overcharging?

When the Ins. Co. says they won't pay over the "normal and customary" charge for a service, then the patient has to pay out-of-pocket for the exorbitant charges. Burn me once shame on you (doc), burn me twice shame on me. Folks smarten up.

Something's obviously screwed up when there is one price schedule for bills paid through insurance and another for bills paid out of pocket.

I have an idea; lets put government in charge and raise taxes to pay for it.

Strange how we wouldn't think of getting something done on our car without a written estimate of parts and labor. But you go in the docs office and have no idea if the bill will be in the 100s, 1000s or more.

Maybe thats why doctors will warranty certain things and not others.

Could one of you spell out, in terms that my simple mind can understand, exactly WHY health care costs so much in AK? I touched on this subject back a while ago, when I found out my health insurance carrier doesn't cover me at all in AK. You mentioned then that the insurance company(s) would most likely fly someone out of state, as it would be cheaper. I guess I just don't really grasp the 'whys' of it all. Thanks.

Because the nearest competition is in Seattle. The providers can charge whatever the hell they want(and they show no restraint), so you either pay, or go without and die. Simple.

Jeff

They will knowingly bankrupt you with a smile. I give a whole lot of credit to nurses, PA, and nurse practitioners. Most of the docs I know are some greedy folks, who are in it to bill/collect as much as possible.

this...

Living in Alaska off and on for almost 30 years really opens your eyes on how fu*cking liberal/west coast the place is becoming.

Only lived here 20 years, but it's only a shadow of it's ruggedly independent past.

While I know most will pile on Anchorage as the scourge, no place has more gimme dat liberals per capita than bush Alaska.

Good to know. Thought it was the shipping.

Those 300 dolla flights to seattle can break ya.

Yup...

Innovation Waver. That's rich right there.

Brilliant response as usual, thanks for being consistent!

Jeff

even more so than this "poor me" gem?

Yep, consistency is definitely your long suit.

He asked why our health care costs so much more than the rest of the US, and I told him exactly why(please counter my point, as I'd love to hear your argument). Nothing "poor me" about it. It is what it is, and it's a fact....unlike your pointless commentary.

There are undoubtedly higher physician and facility costs (look where your at); but to say they can charge whatever they want is silly. Insurance fraud is a crime, and as stated; if a large enough sum can be saved if paying out of pocket, you'll seek services elsewhere, providing you shopped around.

You were right about one thing though; you pay, someone else pays, or you go without and still pay through taxation.

2008 Alaska I could buy a double macho cappuccino earlier in the morning than I could buy a double bourbon. It sure as hell wasn't that way in 1984.

Haha! Scooping Hill's Brothers, Baby....out of the 20 pound tins!

"There are undoubtedly higher physician and facility costs (look where your at); but to say they can charge whatever they want is silly. "

Undoubtedly indeed.Silly, I don't think so. I'll use my recent colonoscopy for an example. When my family Doc did the referral to the "in network" provider that I basically have to use, if I want my health plan to cover(at 80/20); he told me that if my insurance wouldn't cover it, I'd be better off flying to Seattle. In Alaska the procedure is damn near ten grand. In Seattle it's $3K. I'd say that more than tripling the Seattle rate is just a tad greedy. They should have been wearing friggin' ski masks. My out of pocket ended up being over $1700, so not worth flying to Seattle for. Gouging, nonetheless.

Jeff

I can see 20, maybe 30% higher for AK, but double or triple is insane.

Might explain why the only people I've met in Anchorage with a full time servant are neurologists.

Real insane.

Our health insurance has a new program for orthopedic surgery. One of my coworkers in Juneau needed a knee replacement. They flew he and his wife(you can designate whoever you want as your assistant) down to Oklahoma City to a top shelf knee specialist(you get to choose from one of three facilities that participate in the plan), paid for the surgery, follow up, their hotel and food for two weeks, and flew them back. No out of pocket, no deductible. Paid for it all. It was $10,000 cheaper than doing it up here.

Jeff

True, but Oregon is Kalifornicated. I'd rather live here.

They gotta lotta nerve!

Agree on estimates. Even when the bills get in one has no idea....it's all number code, which would be fine with additional language If it was at all patient friendly, the statements would come in with every charge listed in plain English, with recipeints noted, and what was referred to secondary, primary, and not covered. On every statement, even subsequent ones as further charges were paid.

It is not in the medical industry's best interest to allow the sheep to know they are being fleeced.

That's far from the only cause. My father's doctor retired because it was going to cost him about $150K just to digitize his books and records to meet the Obamacare mandates, and he had a relatively small practice. Malpractice insurance is incredibly expensive and the tort system makes doctors order up tons of tests in order to cover their asses. Medical school is so expensive that doctors in their 50s are still paying back their loans. It ain't all Rolexes and BMers. There's a fair number of docs around here that quit their practice to become hospital employees to avoid all that.

Don't know how it works up there, but my doctors agree to accept what the insurance companies pay when they sign on with them (in addition to the copay). If you go outside the network of doctors on your plan, you pay more.

I wish it was that simple... I have spent many hours in the books and know what it looks like...

Do you know what it takes to become a Dr. that actually makes money.. Its about 12-16 years, once in business massive amounts of insurance ETC.

I very much understand how much it takes to become an MD... I also know that outside they are willing to work for a lot less...

Many professions in AK offer "hardship" pay, an extra 20-30% over the lower 48 to attract employees. I have no problem with that for doctors.

But a 20-30% pay bump shouldn't result in a 200-500% bump in the cost of common procedures.