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Title: Medicare and You Post by: crazybabyborg on November 13, 2011, 03:04:27 AM I own a small Rural Health Clinic. It's in Southwest Virginia, and the demographics of the patients we serve dictate that 73% of them are Medicare and Medicaid. We are currently struggling with the costs of upgrading our billing systems ($6,500.00) to meet the new HIPPA standards included in the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) that are required by January 1. The Electronic Medical Records need to be in place by July. There was the promise that incentive money would be available to purchase the software to convert from paper charts to electronic. Rural Health Clinics are required to get their incentive money from Medicaid. There is a standard of "Meaningful Use" you have to meet in order to apply for the money.......... after you register, after you test........... after you attest.......... after you follow the government's yellow brick road.
I can vouch for the FACT that the State of Virginia has released the exact sum of $0.00 to any clinic for such purpose despite a long, long list of clinics that have jumped through all the hoops. Even for my small clinic, I will have to invest over $23,000.00 for the purchase and installation of EMR's. Add to that a minimum of 10 days training at $1,000.00 per day, plus the airfare to fly the trainers in. After that, I will pay monthly for a clearinghouse and the software company a maintenance fee and a per provider fee. The fees total approximately $600.00 per month. I could write a book, but I do vouch for what these Senators are saying: http://video.foxnews.com:80/v/1269073421001/medicare-obamacare-and-you Title: Re: Medicare and You Post by: WhiskeyGirl on November 15, 2011, 06:19:56 AM I own a small Rural Health Clinic. It's in Southwest Virginia, and the demographics of the patients we serve dictate that 73% of them are Medicare and Medicaid. We are currently struggling with the costs of upgrading our billing systems ($6,500.00) to meet the new HIPPA standards included in the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) that are required by January 1. The Electronic Medical Records need to be in place by July. There was the promise that incentive money would be available to purchase the software to convert from paper charts to electronic. Rural Health Clinics are required to get their incentive money from Medicaid. There is a standard of "Meaningful Use" you have to meet in order to apply for the money.......... after you register, after you test........... after you attest.......... after you follow the government's yellow brick road. I can vouch for the FACT that the State of Virginia has released the exact sum of $0.00 to any clinic for such purpose despite a long, long list of clinics that have jumped through all the hoops. Even for my small clinic, I will have to invest over $23,000.00 for the purchase and installation of EMR's. Add to that a minimum of 10 days training at $1,000.00 per day, plus the airfare to fly the trainers in. After that, I will pay monthly for a clearinghouse and the software company a maintenance fee and a per provider fee. The fees total approximately $600.00 per month. I could write a book, but I do vouch for what these Senators are saying: http://video.foxnews.com:80/v/1269073421001/medicare-obamacare-and-you The lack of funding for implementation was a radio topic in Wisconsin. Apparently, no money has been sent to the states to implement the exchanges, build infrastructure, etc. Apparently, if no money is sent, it is up to the Feds to build the exchange for the state. $500 billion (keeps coming up over and over) would buy a lot of healthcare. Obamacare seems to want to pay Washington paper pushers and politicians and not for improving anyone's health. In Wisconsin, fewer and fewer private insurance companies are selling individual insurance policies. A young person used to be able to buy a plan for around $100 dollars a month. Someone I know was quoted about $500 a month earlier this year. Coincidence? I don't think so. |