To help you stay informed about what is going on at the North Carolina General Assembly and how it may affect your practice, Chip Baggett, NCMS Director of Legislative Relations, offers this 6-minute video update. Our intention is to offer these “Bowtie Briefings” each Friday for the remainder of the legislative session.
Please email us if you would like to continue to receive these videos each week, and we’ll add you to our Bowtie Briefing mailing list. Leave us your comments below.
well done!
I agree with physicians and hospitals taking the financial risk. With the SGR “fix”, Medicare is moving to value based payment systems where those willing to accept risk and manage risk appropriately will reap the most benefit financially. I don’t want managed care to manage the risk. They will be sure to take their profit out of the system first and physicians and hospitals will be on the short end of the reimbursement process. This has happen all over the country. Eventually physicians will opt out of the Medicaid system altogether and that pushes all the primary care back to ERs and hospitals, the most expensive place to access care. We have one of, if not the best managed Medicaid system in the country under the CCNC umbrella. We have all of the tools to take this on. There is no reason not to do it.
Where is the bow tie?
We have too many on Medicaid. The reason is a poor primary education system. If the legislature would fix that then people would qualify for better jobs they would want to keep, smoke less and eat right and have better pre natal care less AIDS. and on and on. Health and wellness are all related to education.
Perhaps the worst idea in the world is to take risk as providers. Repeating the mistakes of states where Medicaid managed care has been tried doesn’t sound appealing at all. I’m all for capitation to eliminate claims expense and provide services but why is Medicaid being singled out. Will Schools and Colleges have to accept risk to provide a certain level of performance?
We have a great system already where our costs are flat and the Legislature isn’t smart enough to do the math. Education not negotiation is the real key. Hospital costs are out of control negotiate with them. Doctors are paid a smaller part of the healthcare dollar each year…..We are hardly the problem.
Taking risk is something we’re used to. No drug regimen or surgical procedure is guaranteed to take care of the patient’s problem. Currently the most obvious way to decrease cost to Medicaid, Medicare and private insurers in NC is the removal of the CON requirement for ASCs and other services. With risk-taking placed squarely on the shoulders of providers or others, competition will be created to lower costs. Hospitals are wrong to continue to advocate that they and they alone can deliver quality, cost effective medical care on an outpatient basis. NC needs to awaken to the fact that CON raises cost to the system.
Good update Chip.
I was really looking forward to which Bowtie you were going to wear for this first one!
Thanks!
Thank you, Chip. Agree with Ed Bujold; also with David Miller, but that’s a much longer term project.
Excellent job, Chip! You continue to make difficult topics clear and comprehensible.
Thanks to you and the NCMS for keeping physicians educated on the pressing issues
affecting us. Ditto on the bow tie!