Posted by: AtlasMD

March 18, 2014

Fee-For-Service Private Practices Face Dark Times.

Dr. Tracy Ragland, 46, an independent primary care physician, is anxious about the future of her small practice. The law is bringing new regulations and payment rates that she says squeeze self-employed doctors out of even practicing medicine. She cherishes the autonomy of private practice and speaks darkly of the rush of independent physicians into hospital networks, which she sees as growing monopolies.

“The possibility of not being able to survive in a private practice, especially primary care, is very real,” she said.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

March 7, 2014

Direct Care Is Actually Affordable. Direct Care Is Actually Care. Something The ACA Wishes.

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When Blue Shield of California was designing the new health plans it would offer individuals under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the insurer made a simple request to doctors and hospital in its network — lower your prices or get left behind. The insurer asked providers to accept reimbursement rates as much as 30 percent lower than what Blue Shield previously paid through plans sold on the individual market. Keep in mind that billing through a third-party-payer is about to multiply tenfold in complexity (from ~15,000 to +155,000 billing codes with ICD-10), meaning that getting paid will require more work for fee-for-service docs. In fact, providers are attending training seminars, paid for out of pocket, to learn how to deal with this billing beast.

Some providers got on board with Blue Shield, but not all of them.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

March 6, 2014

You’re Paying That Much For Your Phone? You Can Get A Personal Physician For The Same Price.

Image provided by aei-ideas.org

Epiphany Healthcare in North Port, FL, is another member of our burgeoning direct care movement. American Enterprise Institute wrote about their model and included the price comparison table above. Two obvious points worth mentioning — ACA Bronze coverage DOES NOT do much for patients and still costs a serious amount of money. It might feel safe because it includes catastrophic coverage… But here at Atlas MD in Kansas, we’ve helped patients get wrap-around coverage with a $5,000 deductible for less than $150/mo… Meaning that with direct care and wrap-around coverage combined, we’re giving you more care, and security, for potentially the same price as a Bronze ACA plan.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

February 26, 2014

Sure, Stage 2 Meaningful Use Regulations Are Great. That’s Why Providers Want A Two Year Delay In Their Implementation.

Fierce Health IT reports that “nearly 50 of the nation’s most influential provider organizations–including the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and the Medical Group Management Association–are asking for a front-end extension to Meaningful Use Stage 2…” In fact, they sent a letter directly to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius expressing just that. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

February 24, 2014

Dear Congress, This Doctor Is NOT For Sale. Don’t Sell Her Services Without Her Permission.

In her open letter to the President, Texas physician Kris Held, M.D. writes:

“Dear Johns,

“I am not for sale.

“You may not use me and my works to discriminate against my fellow American patients, much less for your profit. I will not serve one patient under one set of rules and another patient under a different set of your pen’s usurious rules. You lie to me and my patients. I call you out. You falsely advertise my services. You profess “access to care” for your members using false advertising when you list me as one of your “providers”. You trick patients, who you call members; I will not be tricked by you. By the way, I am a doctor not a provider.”

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Posted by: AtlasMD

February 21, 2014

You’ll Never Guess How These Democrats Respond To Being Asked About ACA Savings

Skip to 1:30 on this video for a priceless reaction. Three Members of Minnesota’s delegation — Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) and Reps. Tim Walz (D) and Collin Peterson (D) — fielded questions during an agricultural symposium held at South Central College in North Mankato, Minnestoa. Besides issues surrounding the recently passed farm bill, the trio also fielded questions about the Affordable Care Act. At ~1:30 you’ll see Peterson go speechless when one attendee engages the committee and says, “I thought the Affordable Healthcare Act would save $2,500 per family,” before asking, “What happened?”

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Posted by: AtlasMD

February 20, 2014

Sean Hannity’s Realistic Healthcare Solutions Include Atlas MD-Style Direct Care

On March 25, 2010, President Barack Obama said, “From this day forward, all of the cynics, all the naysayers — they’re going to have to confront the reality of what this reform is and what it isn’t. They’ll have to finally acknowledge this isn’t a government takeover of our healthcare system. They’ll see that if Americans like their doctor, they’ll be keeping their doctor. You like your plan? You’ll be keeping your plan. No one is taking that away from you.”

Unfortunately, Obama’s PREDICTION is not the REALITY. And it’s not just our opinion, but Sean Hannity’s too, that maybe we should put less emphasis on “the plan” and in turn, less emphasis on government. Hannity is even going so far as to cite our direct care model in his vision of an American healthcare solution.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

February 19, 2014

Kimmel Jumps On The Red Tape Bandwagon

Red Alert politics alerted us to this new Jimmy Kimmel sketch skewering Obamacare. We’re glad to know comedy has joined our crusade to get rid of tiresome bureaucracy, so doctors can focus on actual healthcare. Although, given the nature of comedy — the best humor is forward-thinking and offers social critique — healthcare has a long, long road ahead. At least certain public figures are pointing us in the right direction.

Posted by: AtlasMD

February 18, 2014

A Restaurant In L.A. Just Added Red Tape To Your Check

A Restaurant In L.A. Just Added Red Tape To Your Check

Republique is a fine dining establishment located in Hancock Park, a Los Angeles neighborhood. Because of Obamacare’s mandate that businesses with 50+ employees provide heatlhcare for ALL employees, they have unveiled an Obamacare “surcharge” tax. Currently, 3% of the untaxed bill is being added to customer tabs to cover the increased cost of their employee healthcare.

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