I was at a party with a bunch of Doctors last night....

[healthmyths]

EMTALA costs physicians billions in unreimbursed care - amednews.com

hey, shill, the above link deals with EMTLA... a 2001 law.

i seem to recall bush being president in 2001...

and EMTLA has nothing to do with ACA.

Thanks

IDIOT ! EMTALA!!!

"In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. Section 1867 of the Social Security Act imposes specific obligations on Medicare-participating hospitals that offer emergency services to provide a medical screening examination (MSE) when a request is made for examination or treatment for an emergency medical condition (EMC), including active labor, regardless of an individual's ability to pay. Hospitals are then required t provide stabilizing treatment for patients with EMCs. If a hospital is unable to stabilize a patient"

 

[healthmyths]

NOW as far as having to do with Obamcare!
YOU tell me .. I dare you!
What city do you live in?
I will tell you at the largest hospital in your city HOW much YOUR largest HOSPITAL OVERCHARGES
Medicare ALL BECAUSE OF EMTALA!
I dare you tell me your city!
I'll show you that your largest hospital overcharges Medicare DUE to EMTALA!

 

[geauxtohell]

YOU ARE a liar! It is NOW ICD-10 and you have NO idea how the ICD-10 system works much less what the medical liability ratio is right now.

ICD10 hasn't been implemented clinically in the United States yet, dip-doo.

IDIOTS like you who stupidly hate profit making entities have NO Idea that the AVERAGE health insurance company ranks 22 out of 50 in net profits at an average of 4%.

I have no problem with profit. I want to make a lot of it. I have a problem with Jack Nuts that aren't integral to patient care inserting themselves in the equation so they can take out the largest chunk of the pie.

AND THIS IS after the average insurance company ALREADY pays out 80% of the premium revenue in claims to people like you that pad and pass claims like some hospitals do of 6,000% markups!
Don't you DARE tell me these insurance companies are the evil ones here!
Why don't you get after the telecomm people that net an average of 20% profit!

Dumb ignorant people like you that pretend to be in the health care loop are the worst!
YOUR doctor out of fear of lawsuits is part of the $600 billion a year in defensive medicine but you defend the lawyers!
YOU defend the government run health care Medicare and THEY are the ones (and you obviously never heard of EMTALA!!)

I am in Emergency Medicine. I live under EMTALA. Nice of Reagan to sign that into law, don't you think?

force hospitals to markup sometimes 6,000% CAT scans, level 5 care, etc l.. (do you have access as I do to a database of 6,000 medicare hospitals and what they charged Medicare??? I didn't think so!)..
All because the hospitals have to Pad and pass to Medicare/insurance companies the $60 billion a year in "uncompensated services" all due to EMTALA!

I agree. They have to keep the doors open.

Look up EMTALA and see what these physicians have to say about it!

I know what EMTALA is dipshit. If you are in a large Level 1 Tertiary Care hospital in a rural state, you get to live under the sword of inappropriate transfers.

A study released in May by the American Medical Association found that physicians lost $4.2 billion in revenue in 2001 providing care mandated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. The law requires doctors to screen and stabilize emergency patients regardless of whether they have health insurance or are able to pay for their care.
hysicians incurred an average of $12,300 each in bad debt attributable to EMTALA. This represented about 13.7% their total bad debt in 2001.

EMTALA costs physicians billions in unreimbursed care - amednews.com

1) More than half (53 percent) of emergency physicians reported that fear of lawsuits is the main reason for ordering the number of tests they do.
Emergency Visits Are Increasing, New Poll Finds; Many Patients Referred by Primary Care Doctors

2) Nine out of 10 physicians reported practicing defensive medicine.
Estimate Defensive Medicine Costs Americans $650-850 Billion Annually
Doctors Practice Medicine in Fear, New Study Finds

Then Today:...
FACTS: By some estimates, unnecessary treatment constitutes one-third of medical spending in the United States. [1/3 of $2.5 trillion is $800 billion a year!!!]
a group of nine medical specialty boards plans to recommend on Wednesday that doctors perform 45 common tests and procedures less often, and to urge patients to question these services if they are offered. Eight other specialty boards are preparing to follow suit with additional lists of procedures their members should perform far less often.


DEAL with FACTS!!!! Not hyperbole.. not anecdotal.. NOT out of IGNORANCE!!

I know you fancy yourself an expert in this matter. Frankly, you sound like a screaming jackass. I have a hard time taking you seriously.

 

[BDBoop]

NOW as far as having to do with Obamcare!
YOU tell me .. I dare you!
What city do you live in?
I will tell you at the largest hospital in your city HOW much YOUR largest HOSPITAL OVERCHARGES
Medicare ALL BECAUSE OF EMTALA!
I dare you tell me your city!
I'll show you that your largest hospital overcharges Medicare DUE to EMTALA!

Rut-roh. Crash-n-burn en route!! CRASH - N - BURN!!!!111!!ELEVENTY111!!!!!11

 

[JoeNormal]

Feel better?

I have some idea of how "health finances" work. I am probably one of the few posters on here that knows how the ICD 9 system works.....

The nice thing about being a physician is that I don't have to question my utility in the patient-care loop.

I can certainly imagine that some of the more tangential personnel, middle men, and ancillary people (Insurance) are sweating right now.

No kidding. It's almost comical to see administrators (in any field) work so hard to justify their existence.

YOU think it is FUNNY????
JUSTIFY existence? What the..f...k do you do? PUsh a broom? Buy pencils?
Come on... you obviously have NEVER dealt in how businesses work, finances, etc..
you are evidently just a totally ignoramous!

What is comical is how ignorant people are of how things like health care works!
IDIOT... know what costs HEALTH care administrators the most??? HIPAA the LAST effort to manage health CARE!
YOU idiots laugh but you have to stand on a line at your pharmacy painted just to keep you from (DUE to HIPAA!!!) from hearing something!
IDIOTS like you have NO idea what an INNOCENT" let's help the poor" bill passed in 1986 called EMTALA has exploded into a total $100 billion a year in WASTE at Medicare!
IDIOTS like you laugh monkey boys but again the last laugh will be on yOU!

I'm an engineer. You know, one of the people who actually does produce things. I've dealt with various levels of tangential personel and middlemen (as geauxtohell so eloquently put it) in three separate large corporations. I'm not saying that people like you are a complete waste of space but we need about 90% fewer of you.

 

[BDBoop]

No kidding. It's almost comical to see administrators (in any field) work so hard to justify their existence.

YOU think it is FUNNY????
JUSTIFY existence? What the..f...k do you do? PUsh a broom? Buy pencils?
Come on... you obviously have NEVER dealt in how businesses work, finances, etc..
you are evidently just a totally ignoramous!

What is comical is how ignorant people are of how things like health care works!
IDIOT... know what costs HEALTH care administrators the most??? HIPAA the LAST effort to manage health CARE!
YOU idiots laugh but you have to stand on a line at your pharmacy painted just to keep you from (DUE to HIPAA!!!) from hearing something!
IDIOTS like you have NO idea what an INNOCENT" let's help the poor" bill passed in 1986 called EMTALA has exploded into a total $100 billion a year in WASTE at Medicare!
IDIOTS like you laugh monkey boys but again the last laugh will be on yOU!

I'm an engineer. You know, one of the people who actually does produce things. I've dealt with various levels of tangential personel and middlemen (as geauxtohell so eloquently put it) in three separate large corporations. I'm not saying that people like you are a complete waste of space but we need about 90% fewer of you.

Will rep when not tapped.

 

[geauxtohell]

NOW as far as having to do with Obamcare!
YOU tell me .. I dare you!
What city do you live in?
I will tell you at the largest hospital in your city HOW much YOUR largest HOSPITAL OVERCHARGES
Medicare ALL BECAUSE OF EMTALA!
I dare you tell me your city!
I'll show you that your largest hospital overcharges Medicare DUE to EMTALA!

Everyone knows hospitals overcharge due to EMTALA.

It's not like Hospitals refused to treat the non-insured before Reagan put EMTALA into effect in the 80s.

Knucklehead.

 

[BDBoop]

NOW as far as having to do with Obamcare!
YOU tell me .. I dare you!
What city do you live in?
I will tell you at the largest hospital in your city HOW much YOUR largest HOSPITAL OVERCHARGES
Medicare ALL BECAUSE OF EMTALA!
I dare you tell me your city!
I'll show you that your largest hospital overcharges Medicare DUE to EMTALA!

Everyone knows hospitals overcharge due to EMTALA.

It's not like Hospitals refused to treat the non-insured before Reagan put EMTALA into effect in the 80s.

Knucklehead.

/he said politely

 

[healthmyths]

Of course you won't share because I'll prove to you how little YOU know and how much health care costs have increased mostly due to these two factors:
1) EMTALA forcing hospitals to PAD and Pass on on "uncompensated services"
2) $600 billion in defensive medicine because lawyers have increased to $100 billion fees from suits!


But for some reason you and others defend the millionaire lawyers... wHY???

 

[BDBoop]

Of course you won't share because I'll prove to you how little YOU know and how much health care costs have increased mostly due to these two factors:
1) EMTALA forcing hospitals to PAD and Pass on on "uncompensated services"
2) $600 billion in defensive medicine because lawyers have increased to $100 billion fees from suits!


But for some reason you and others defend the millionaire lawyers... wHY???

Time for a Koch break. I mean Coke. Don't come back until you've finished the can, and preferably gone for a walk. Then you can speak rationally (although you may be doing the jitterbug, thanks to the caffeine).

 

[healthmyths]

YOU ARE a liar! It is NOW ICD-10 and you have NO idea how the ICD-10 system works much less what the medical liability ratio is right now.

ICD10 hasn't been implemented clinically in the United States yet, dip-doo.

CD-9-CM, which is in current use, is 30 years old and both out-of-date and inflexible. Though greater than 10 years old itself, ICD-10-CM affords more modern terminology but is also a much larger system, containing 68,000-plus codes as opposed to 14,000-plus codes in ICD-9-CM. One potential benefit of having more "granular" diagnosis reporting will be fewer requests for supplementary documentation. This granularity will be necessary to measure the level of quality and medical necessity the public is demanding for its dollars, and is meant to reduce fraud and abuse. An earlier article on AAN.com discusses other details of the new system. The Academy is planning educational offerings on ICD-10-CM closer to the implementation date.

IDIOTS like you who stupidly hate profit making entities have NO Idea that the AVERAGE health insurance company ranks 22 out of 50 in net profits at an average of 4%.

I have no problem with profit. I want to make a lot of it. I have a problem with Jack Nuts that aren't integral to patient care inserting themselves in the equation so they can take out the largest chunk of the pie.



I am in Emergency Medicine. I live under EMTALA. Nice of Reagan to sign that into law, don't you think?

NO it was NOT intended for the gross misuse and mismanagement of a govt. agency to foster waste such as people going to ER for colds!


I agree. They have to keep the doors open.

Look up EMTALA and see what these physicians have to say about it!

I know what EMTALA is dipshit. If you are in a large Level 1 Tertiary Care hospital in a rural state, you get to live under the sword of inappropriate transfers.

A study released in May by the American Medical Association found that physicians lost $4.2 billion in revenue in 2001 providing care mandated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. The law requires doctors to screen and stabilize emergency patients regardless of whether they have health insurance or are able to pay for their care.
hysicians incurred an average of $12,300 each in bad debt attributable to EMTALA. This represented about 13.7% their total bad debt in 2001.

EMTALA costs physicians billions in unreimbursed care - amednews.com

1) More than half (53 percent) of emergency physicians reported that fear of lawsuits is the main reason for ordering the number of tests they do.
Emergency Visits Are Increasing, New Poll Finds; Many Patients Referred by Primary Care Doctors

2) Nine out of 10 physicians reported practicing defensive medicine.
Estimate Defensive Medicine Costs Americans $650-850 Billion Annually
Doctors Practice Medicine in Fear, New Study Finds

Then Today:...
FACTS: By some estimates, unnecessary treatment constitutes one-third of medical spending in the United States. [1/3 of $2.5 trillion is $800 billion a year!!!]
a group of nine medical specialty boards plans to recommend on Wednesday that doctors perform 45 common tests and procedures less often, and to urge patients to question these services if they are offered. Eight other specialty boards are preparing to follow suit with additional lists of procedures their members should perform far less often.


DEAL with FACTS!!!! Not hyperbole.. not anecdotal.. NOT out of IGNORANCE!!

I know you fancy yourself an expert in this matter. Frankly, you sound like a screaming jackass. I have a hard time taking you seriously.

I deal with FACTS not hyperbole. I have a hard time taking YOU seriously because you seemingly feel that Obamacare is a panacea for all ills!
When in the first place YOU don't even agree on the number of truly uninsured!
If you can't understand the simple premise that Obamacare was primarily passed because of false numbers.. i.e. there are NOT 50 million "uninsured"!
10 million are not citizens, 14 million are already covered and 17.5 million don't need, don't want and should NOT be forced to buy..
Leaving 8.5 million that it!
YES let's tax the lawyers that cost $600 billion in duplicate testing... YOU of all people should then know about that!
Take that and the uncompensated services costs... apply towards paying a premium
to a newly formed govt. contracted for profit agency called "uncompensated health services ins. co. REQUIRE all hospitals ERs, to register "uninsured" with UHSIC..
Then send all the claims... AND STOP padding and passing UNDER penalty of audits to
Medicare/ins. companies that are doing nothing but passing on to tax payers!

With the premiums from lawyers/hospitals/ins.companies pay the claims!

THAT doesn't require a massive overhaul. Doesn't require govt. intervention of the magnitude of Obamacare and DOESN'T REQUIRE LYING to the public there are 50 million uninsured! LYING that Obamacare is NOT a tax when in fact there are 21 NEW taxes!
All of those LIES make people DISTRUST the whole mess!
Finally just finally WHY did it have to be so monstrously huge so all encompassing?

Little chunks bitten off go down a lot easier then ONE GIGANTIC bite!
But that goes back to the arrogance of elitists!

 

[Dot Com]

Will they move to Costa Rica like Limbaugh said he was going to do? Oh wait!!!

 

[Jackson]

83% of doctors said they would seriously consider leaving medicine.

Link?

The Doctor Patient Medical Association has released a new survey of about 700 doctors, and the results are bleak. Scary bleak. Among other dismal figures, Doctors' Attitudes on the Future of Medicine: What’s Wrong, Who’s to Blame, and What Will Fix It found that 83% of respondents are contemplating leaving the industry if Obamacare is fully implemented, owing to its disastrous projected consequences. Indeed, they openly blame the healthcare law for their industry's woes:

KEY FINDINGS

90% say the medical system is on the WRONG TRACK
83% say they are thinking about QUITTING
61% say the system challenges their ETHICS
85% say the patient-physician relationship is in a TAILSPIN
65% say GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT is most to blame for current problems
72% say individual insurance mandate will NOT result in improved access care
49% say they will STOP accepting Medicaid patients
74% say they will STOP ACCEPTING Medicare patients, or leave Medicare completely
52% say they would rather treat some Medicaid/Medicare patient for FREE
57% give the AMA a FAILING GRADE representing them
1 out of 3 doctors is HESITANT to voice their opinion
2 out of 3 say they are JUST SQUEAKING BY OR IN THE RED financially
95% say private practice is losing out to CORPORATE MEDICINE
80% say DOCTORS/MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS are most likely to help solve things
70% say REDUCING GOVERNMENT would be single best fix.

Thanks Obamacare: 83% of Doctors Surveyed Say They May Quit - Kate Hicks

This is very interesting and factual. Thank you for bringing this to the board.

 

[BDBoop]

However, this is MORE interesting and factual.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/healt...care-explained-to-a-5-y-o-or-thereabouts.html

 

[Ravi]

Link?

The Doctor Patient Medical Association has released a new survey of about 700 doctors, and the results are bleak. Scary bleak. Among other dismal figures, Doctors' Attitudes on the Future of Medicine: What’s Wrong, Who’s to Blame, and What Will Fix It found that 83% of respondents are contemplating leaving the industry if Obamacare is fully implemented, owing to its disastrous projected consequences. Indeed, they openly blame the healthcare law for their industry's woes:

KEY FINDINGS

90% say the medical system is on the WRONG TRACK
83% say they are thinking about QUITTING
61% say the system challenges their ETHICS
85% say the patient-physician relationship is in a TAILSPIN
65% say GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT is most to blame for current problems
72% say individual insurance mandate will NOT result in improved access care
49% say they will STOP accepting Medicaid patients
74% say they will STOP ACCEPTING Medicare patients, or leave Medicare completely
52% say they would rather treat some Medicaid/Medicare patient for FREE
57% give the AMA a FAILING GRADE representing them
1 out of 3 doctors is HESITANT to voice their opinion
2 out of 3 say they are JUST SQUEAKING BY OR IN THE RED financially
95% say private practice is losing out to CORPORATE MEDICINE
80% say DOCTORS/MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS are most likely to help solve things
70% say REDUCING GOVERNMENT would be single best fix.

Thanks Obamacare: 83% of Doctors Surveyed Say They May Quit - Kate Hicks

This is very interesting and factual. Thank you for bringing this to the board.

Read the subsequent posts.

 

[koshergrl]

Ranging from those who are starting on July 1st (like me) to those who have practiced for a few years to those that have practiced for a decade.

All anyone could talk about was ACA and it wasn't good.

The more experienced doctors were already making plans to leave medicine. I heard comments along the line of "this is the end of medicine." "The system is going to implode." "You will basically be working for peanuts in an environment that is going to be rife with litigation and no shields." "Your only hope is for Romney to win and get rid of this monstrosity, otherwise you should leave now."

Actually, I didn't hear any of this. I didn't hear anything good or bad about the ACA. Most people seemed unconcerned.

I believe they are unconcerned because no one knows what the true effect* of ACA is going to be. I had a good laugh at my local conservative talker guy trying to articulate what he thought this would do to patient care. He sounded like an idiot, because the things he was saying made absolutely no sense to someone familiar with patient care.

ACA could indeed be disastrous policy. It could also be great policy. I just don't know. And I don't think you, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Ed Schultz do either.

*Meaning the effect on health care delivery in this country and not the effect on individual tax payers in regard to cost.

Were you there to bus tables? It's good that you're picking up some change.

Meanwhile, newsflash, just because you don't understand it doesn't mean nobody else is capable of understanding it.

 

[Douger]

83% of doctors said they would seriously consider leaving medicine.

Link?

Are you too friggin' lazy to find the link yourself, or are you just afraid of the TRUTH.

Just like all the assholes that were leaving the country if Bush got re(s)elected.
I know one that kept his word.

 

[BDBoop]

Ranging from those who are starting on July 1st (like me) to those who have practiced for a few years to those that have practiced for a decade.

All anyone could talk about was ACA and it wasn't good.

The more experienced doctors were already making plans to leave medicine. I heard comments along the line of "this is the end of medicine." "The system is going to implode." "You will basically be working for peanuts in an environment that is going to be rife with litigation and no shields." "Your only hope is for Romney to win and get rid of this monstrosity, otherwise you should leave now."

Actually, I didn't hear any of this. I didn't hear anything good or bad about the ACA. Most people seemed unconcerned.

I believe they are unconcerned because no one knows what the true effect* of ACA is going to be. I had a good laugh at my local conservative talker guy trying to articulate what he thought this would do to patient care. He sounded like an idiot, because the things he was saying made absolutely no sense to someone familiar with patient care.

ACA could indeed be disastrous policy. It could also be great policy. I just don't know. And I don't think you, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Ed Schultz do either.

*Meaning the effect on health care delivery in this country and not the effect on individual tax payers in regard to cost.

Were you there to bus tables? It's good that you're picking up some change.

Meanwhile, newsflash, just because you don't understand it doesn't mean nobody else is capable of understanding it.

Really? You missed his "I finished med school" thread?

 

[kiwiman127]

83% of doctors said they would seriously consider leaving medicine.

Link?

The Doctor Patient Medical Association has released a new survey of about 700 doctors, and the results are bleak. Scary bleak. Among other dismal figures, Doctors' Attitudes on the Future of Medicine: What’s Wrong, Who’s to Blame, and What Will Fix It found that 83% of respondents are contemplating leaving the industry if Obamacare is fully implemented, owing to its disastrous projected consequences. Indeed, they openly blame the healthcare law for their industry's woes:

KEY FINDINGS

90% say the medical system is on the WRONG TRACK
83% say they are thinking about QUITTING
61% say the system challenges their ETHICS
85% say the patient-physician relationship is in a TAILSPIN
65% say GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT is most to blame for current problems
72% say individual insurance mandate will NOT result in improved access care
49% say they will STOP accepting Medicaid patients
74% say they will STOP ACCEPTING Medicare patients, or leave Medicare completely
52% say they would rather treat some Medicaid/Medicare patient for FREE
57% give the AMA a FAILING GRADE representing them
1 out of 3 doctors is HESITANT to voice their opinion
2 out of 3 say they are JUST SQUEAKING BY OR IN THE RED financially
95% say private practice is losing out to CORPORATE MEDICINE
80% say DOCTORS/MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS are most likely to help solve things
70% say REDUCING GOVERNMENT would be single best fix.

Thanks Obamacare: 83% of Doctors Surveyed Say They May Quit - Kate Hicks

Well, that's one poll and another says that most doctors support Public Option!
Poll Finds Most Doctors Support Public Option : NPR

 

[kiwiman127]

AS with most people YOU have NO idea how health finances work but I do as I started a company that everyday helps at least 10,000 times a DAY health care providers know if they will be paid by Medicare! So I have access that YOU and many others don't!

The FACT is Obamacare was a tax but if Obamacare had been HONESTLY presented to the 6 votes JUST 6 that it passed by, IT would NOT have passed because most of the people that voted YES DIDN"T understand there were 21 NEW taxes being raised in Obamacare!
If they knew that some of the YES votes would have been NO!

The FACT that Obamacare will as Obama wants DESTROY 1,400 health insurance companies over time. Putting 400,000 people out of work AND eliminating over $100 billion a year in Federal/State/Local and property taxes!
Where will that $100 billion come from?

Finally MOST of those people that voted yes and I know YOU for sure think there were 50 million "uninsured"... THERE ARE NOT!!!
10 million are not citizens says the Census Bureau!
14 million are covered by Medicaid but said they were not and they are counted!
Finally now 17.5 million that for the majority NeVER added ONE cent to the $60 billion in
what hospitals call "uncompensated" services!
YET these people were counted.
So truly less then 8 million are in need of insurance... AND everyone of those doctors would agree.. One of the reason health insurance has increased more is the $600 billion a year in duplicate tests, specialist referrals anything these doctors do to protect their butts from lawsuits!
Tell you what you ask everyone of those doctors if they would favor a 10% tax on lawyers as Obamacare taxed tanning salons and the $10 billion of lawyers $100 billion income would have provided insurance for the truly UNINSURED!
They would love it!

Feel better?

I have some idea of how "health finances" work. I am probably one of the few posters on here that knows how the ICD 9 system works.....

The nice thing about being a physician is that I don't have to question my utility in the patient-care loop.

I can certainly imagine that some of the more tangential personnel, middle men, and ancillary people (Insurance) are sweating right now.

YOU ARE a liar! It is NOW ICD-10 and you have NO idea how the ICD-10 system works much less what the medical liability ratio is right now.
IDIOTS like you who stupidly hate profit making entities have NO Idea that the AVERAGE health insurance company ranks 22 out of 50 in net profits at an average of 4%.

AND THIS IS after the average insurance company ALREADY pays out 80% of the premium revenue in claims to people like you that pad and pass claims like some hospitals do of 6,000% markups!
Don't you DARE tell me these insurance companies are the evil ones here!
Why don't you get after the telecomm people that net an average of 20% profit!

Dumb ignorant people like you that pretend to be in the health care loop are the worst!
YOUR doctor out of fear of lawsuits is part of the $600 billion a year in defensive medicine but you defend the lawyers!
YOU defend the government run health care Medicare and THEY are the ones (and you obviously never heard of EMTALA!!) force hospitals to markup sometimes 6,000% CAT scans, level 5 care, etc l.. (do you have access as I do to a database of 6,000 medicare hospitals and what they charged Medicare??? I didn't think so!)..
All because the hospitals have to Pad and pass to Medicare/insurance companies the $60 billion a year in "uncompensated services" all due to EMTALA!

Look up EMTALA and see what these physicians have to say about it!

A study released in May by the American Medical Association found that physicians lost $4.2 billion in revenue in 2001 providing care mandated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. The law requires doctors to screen and stabilize emergency patients regardless of whether they have health insurance or are able to pay for their care.
hysicians incurred an average of $12,300 each in bad debt attributable to EMTALA. This represented about 13.7% their total bad debt in 2001.

EMTALA costs physicians billions in unreimbursed care - amednews.com

1) More than half (53 percent) of emergency physicians reported that fear of lawsuits is the main reason for ordering the number of tests they do.
Emergency Visits Are Increasing, New Poll Finds; Many Patients Referred by Primary Care Doctors

2) Nine out of 10 physicians reported practicing defensive medicine.
Estimate Defensive Medicine Costs Americans $650-850 Billion Annually
Doctors Practice Medicine in Fear, New Study Finds

Then Today:...
FACTS: By some estimates, unnecessary treatment constitutes one-third of medical spending in the United States. [1/3 of $2.5 trillion is $800 billion a year!!!]
a group of nine medical specialty boards plans to recommend on Wednesday that doctors perform 45 common tests and procedures less often, and to urge patients to question these services if they are offered. Eight other specialty boards are preparing to follow suit with additional lists of procedures their members should perform far less often.


DEAL with FACTS!!!! Not hyperbole.. not anecdotal.. NOT out of IGNORANCE!!

Another lover of CAPITAL LETTERS! And that's a FACT!