SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois hopes to get $600 million a year in federal health care funds under a hospital tax plan signed Sunday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.I mean, I really don't understand it. It sounds like some sort of money laundering, investment scheme. I'm sure it isn't but I don't get it. At first, I thought the newspaper article was just unclear but later I heard the same story, told the same way, on WUIS.
The three-year program still must be approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. State officials are optimistic that it will be OK'd because the program is a revised and expanded version of one that has been used before, generating $430 million.
The program works by taxing Illinois hospitals and putting the money into the Medicaid program to qualify for federal matching funds. Then the original tax money and the extra federal money are returned to hospitals.
Someone please explain.
1 comment:
Great!
Yet, another short term fix used to address a long term problem - which only feeds into the problem, making it worse.
So let's see how this matching funds scam works.
To obtain the additional revenue used for obtaining matching funds, hospitals must in some way obtain the additional monies to match. But this isn't pretend money, it's real money, and it has to come from somewhere.
Hmmm., but where? The Hospital must increase the cost of health care to generate this "extra money".
This in turn drives up cost for the insurance companies, and their insureds - the payors into the health care system.
The employer paying most of the cost of the insurance is forced to increase the employee contribution - as well as absorb the increased cost of providing the benefit.
Because of the increased cost the employer is less likely to increase wages for their employees - which makes less money available for the employee to pay their part of the cost of health care.
While employee contribution levels increase the number of those able to participate in employer sponsored health insurance plans decreases.
Already forty seven million working Americans who are offered health insurance through work, can't afford to take their employers up on the offer - a number that is rapidly growing.
As fewer, and fewer employers, and employees participate in insurance programs it makes the cost for those remaining increase.
Once again, this increase in cost throws out even more employers, and employees from participating.
AND HERE'S THE TRICKY PART!
Those who are unable to maintain their insurance STILL GET SICK, and go to the hospital anyway, they then end up losing everything that can be taken from them (destroying their lives), but the rest of what they owe the health care provider is classified as an uncompensated cost by the hospital.
The hospital in turn is forced to compensate by increasing their cost in order to make up the difference. These uncompensated cost are paid for by the fewer and fewer remaining people covered by insurance plans.
WHICH THROWS OUT EVEN MORE PARTICIPANTS TO HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS!
THE COUP D'GRACE!
In the meantime as the Baby Boomers age, and as poverty grows, more and more Americans will be using the health care system - while unable to pay for it - thus feeding into this already horrible situation.
Now everyone knows this whole nightmare scenario is playing out, getting worse by the day - and it simply can't be maintained.
There are some heartless bastards on the right who are essentially saying let those who can't afford health care die - but they couch in all kinds of health care reforms meant to set up conditions where people are already very ill, or dying, before they can use the health care system.
BUT BECAUSE this unravelling will eventually effect nearly the entire middle class there needs to be a politically acceptible solution which the majority of people will agree upon (see Canadian Health Care System).
The insurance companies, those paying the ever increasing cost for health insurance, the employers, the health care providers, and even the politicians know this landslide is coming down - but no one is willing to muddy up their hands.
Look what happened to the Clintons!
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