Here are some changes that will be coming soon as a result of the socialized medicine we will have thanks to Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid with ObamaCare. Many changes are the direct result of new government rules and regulations, some of which are still being written on a daily basis, but out of necessity, health care insurers are already resorting to unconventional methods to weed out potentially costly insurance claims. For instance, in past years insurers would closely scan policy applications to try and discover misleading, false or incomplete medical histories that they could use as a basis to deny coverage for a medical claim. Now, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal, health insurance companies are purchasing personal shoppers info from retail stores to look for customers who buy tobacco or even alcohol products. Your health insurer could increase your insurance premium if they knew you were a smoker or a heavy drinker and they could deny paying a medical claim if you denied that you were a smoker or an alcoholic and they found out you lied on their application forms.
While it is somewhat cute and amusing that a retailer would suspect a female customer may be pregnant based upon the merchandise she purchased, the implications are very onerous when viewed on a larger scale. It is a real world extension of the old joke about the man who went into a large retail store to buy tampons for his wife and the observant sales clerk suggested he visit the sporting goods department for some new fishing gear because "there's nothing going on at your house this weekend". This is what retailers do with your personal information. Its called Data Mining.
Why Is Retail Giant Target Trying to Scan Your Driver’s License for This Seemingly Simple Purchase?
Target has been in the spotlight recently for its extensive data mining abilities to direct marketing to its customers, which could be exactly why the store wanted to scan his ID in the first place. An article in the New York Times by Charles Duhigg, highlighting a portion of his book “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and in Business,” showed how Target is able to tell if a woman is pregnant, based on its purchase-tracking capabilities, before even she knows. Duhigg wrote:Read more here: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/19/why-does-target-require-a-scan-of-your-drivers-license-to-buy-nicotine-patches/For decades, Target has collected vast amounts of data on every person who regularly walks into one of its stores. Whenever possible, Target assigns each shopper a unique code — known internally as the Guest ID number — that keeps tabs on everything they buy. “If you use a credit card or a coupon, or fill out a survey, or mail in a refund, or call the customer help line, or open an e-mail we’ve sent you or visit our Web site, we’ll record it and link it to your Guest ID,” Pole said. “We want to know everything we can.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Top Ten ObamaCare Horror Stories the Media Are Covering Up
Because the mainstream media lobbied every bit as hard as Obama to win passage of ObamaCare, they are every bit as invested in doing whatever is necessary to see that it is perceived as a success. Unfortunately for Americans who expect truth from their media, this means the media are having to manufacture a false reality that says ObamaCare is, to steal a phrase, “doing fine.”
In order to manufacture this phony reality, the media must further sell their blackened soul by violating one of their most cherished principals: reporting on how government policy hits America’s weakest the hardest. It’s just a fact that the worst fallout of ObamaCare is already landing hard on the working class, who are losing work hours, jobs, and their insurance.
Usually when a government policy hits the working class, the media will fall all over themselves to “tell their personal stories.” But not these people. The media perceives these poor souls as sacrifices to a bigger cause known as The State.
Read more here: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/03/22/Top-Ten-ObamaCare-Stories-Media-Covering-Up
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This story from Kaiser Health News gives new meaning to the term "Group Health Care".
Kaiser Health NewsGroup Appointments With Doctors: When Three Isn't A Crowd
More doctors are holding appointments with multiple patients, a trend some say may help ease a forecasted shortage of physicians.
TUESDAY, March 19, 2013 (Kaiser Health News) — When visiting the doctor, there may be strength in numbers.
In recent years, a growing number of doctors have begun holding group appointments — seeing up to a dozen patients with similar medical concerns all at once. Advocates of the approach say such visits allow doctors to treat more patients, spend more time with them (even if not one-on-one), increase appointment availability and improve health outcomes.
Some see group appointments as a way to ease looming physician shortages. According to a study published in December, meeting the country's health-care needs will require nearly 52,000 additional primary-care physicians by 2025. More than 8,000 of that total will be needed for the more than 27 million people newly insured under the Affordable Care Act.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ObamaCare Turns Three: 10 Disturbing Facts Americans Have Learned
Posted 03/21/2013 07:00 PM ET
But only now, as ObamaCare's third anniversary approaches — President Obama signed it into law on March 23, 2010 — is the country starting to find out what the sweeping health care overhaul will actually do.
ObamaCare backers typically tout popular features that went into effect almost immediately. The law expanded Medicare's drug coverage, for example, and let children stay on their parents' plans until they turned 26.
But the bulk of ObamaCare doesn't take effect until next year. That's when the so-called insurance exchanges are supposed to be up and running, when the mandate on individuals and businesses kicks in, and when the avalanche of regulations on the insurance industry hits.
As this start date draws near, evidence is piling up that ObamaCare will:
- Boost insurance costs.
- Push millions off employer coverage.
- Cause premiums to skyrocket.
- Cost people their jobs.
- Tax the middle class.
- Add to the deficit.
- Cost more than promised.
- Be a bureaucratic nightmare.
- Exacerbate doctor shortages.
- Leave millions uninsured.
No comments:
Post a Comment
No foreign language comments allowed. English only. If you cannot access the comments window send me an email at Oldironsides@fuse.net.