Medicare Leaves Us Blue
By JOSEPH WEISS, MD
Blue Cross gave those of us who are its subscribers a grand
announcement in a quiet and underhanded way. At the end of October,
just in time for the election, BCBS mailed out the 2009 edition of
Medicare Plus Blue coverage manual.
With no previous warning, subscribers learned that:
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BCBS had increased the monthly premium nearly 30 percent -
from $151/month to $190/month;
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that inpatient hospital care, previously requiring a $0
co-pay would now carry a $300 co-pay for each hospital stay;
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skilled nursing home care that in the past required a
$100/day co-pay for a stay longer than 21 days, now will require a
$130/day co-pay for a stay longer than 21 days;
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co-pays for a visit to a specialist that in the past
required a $15 out-of-pocket payment now require a $20 co-pay.
The list goes on but, with few exceptions, increases in
co-pays averaged nearly 30 percent across all covered services.
Blue Cross gives no reasons for these increases. We know
Advantage plans like Medicare Plus Blue continue to receive Bush
administration subsidies, so why does BCBS need more from us? We
know that BCBS remains committed to expanding its ownership of the
health insurance market and needs money to feed that ambition. We
are free to imagine what Wall Street perks and bonuses the Blues top
administrators will receive.
We can expect BCBS, if pressed, to make a statement
asserting that the cost of health care is increasing and the rise in
premiums and co-pays reflects that increase. But the cost of health
care is not rising at the 30 percent rate BCBS forced on us. In
the case of hospital stays, co-pays changed from zero to $300 an
infinite increase; BCBS did not say a word about why it instituted
such a fee. Likely, the Blues couldn’t find a good reason.
What can we expect next year? Certainly no better than what
we received this year.
The BCBS plan is called Medicare Advantage, but who gains?
We subscribers are not paying premiums as much as we are making
ransom payments. For doctors, the lesson is beware BCBS as in the
name of reimbursments, BCBS soon will offer us mere rations.
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