tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post5377074210439376319..comments2024-03-26T00:25:34.026-04:00Comments on Not Running a Hospital: Yes, they blinkedPaul Levyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17065446378970179507noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-80170953315735280602011-10-26T11:30:49.657-04:002011-10-26T11:30:49.657-04:00A couple of notes.
First, the Attorney General wi...A couple of notes.<br /><br />First, the Attorney General will almost certainly be reading over this contract for next year's hearings, as they have the previous one, as part of their statutory review authority.<br /><br />Second, BCBS has emphasized key principles of the AQC, including the need for 5-year deals, which both lock in rates for the plan and ensure buy-in by the provider to AQC as a long-term solution. The Partners deal is the only AQC deal that is cut to 3 years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-11687606785531367712011-10-24T13:48:40.527-04:002011-10-24T13:48:40.527-04:00What I have trouble figuring out is what makes thi...What I have trouble figuring out is what makes this very costly organization a non profit entity. If it is driving up the price of medical care, and thus pricing many individuals out of the insurance market, does this fulfill its philanthropic role? <br /><br />Maybe it needs to change its mission staement to one of providing the best health care for patients with the right insurance! For all the rest of you, here are directions to Boston City Hospital!<br /><br />And of course the other non profit in the equation is Blue Cross. Exactly what do they do to earn their tax breaks!? Certainly it is not striving to provide affordable health care!<br /><br />I suggest draining the swamp of these perverted tax incentives so those taking care of the burgeoning uninsured or underinsured will have the necessary resources. Those funds seem to be going currently to overly generous compensation for administration and a massive building boom of splashy new hospitals and ever fancier new machines that hoestly are not buying us significant gains in helath and well being. Hospitals are becoming the new snake oil salesmen offering fancy new gadgets at exorbitant prices that do little to improve health. Why else do we pay so much but have decreased longevity comapared to other developed countries?Keithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-71053381797097000172011-10-24T09:00:31.398-04:002011-10-24T09:00:31.398-04:00Do cousins play tit-for-tat? The assumption that t...Do cousins play tit-for-tat? The assumption that the game is one of reciprocity is far too simple. That one could be played in public. Given the dominant resource-holding powers and increasingly mutually beneficial interdependence of the organizations, this game might be better modeled with kin selection in mind. You know, a family.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-4140775150831877892011-10-24T05:13:04.575-04:002011-10-24T05:13:04.575-04:00The thing that I can't figure out in this deal...The thing that I can't figure out in this deal is indeed the private nature of it. There are numerous examples of very public games of brinkmanship between large hospital systems and insurance companies when a contract is up for renewal, with each side attempting to gain the public's sympathy for their position. <br />In contrast to this case, where everything was done in a back room and - most oddly- the result appears to be directly contrary to the best interest of the insurance company. During a time in which, as you point out, there would never be a better opportunity to drive a harder bargain.<br />The entire story just does not make any sense. That alone raises suspicion of some inside tit for tat deal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com