60 Minutes tonight-3 intriguing stories:

[babylonsister]

Sunday, Mar. 5, 2006
IS THE PRICE RIGHT? – Are hospitals discriminating against patients without insurance by making them pay more than insured patients for the same services? Dan Rather investigates. Michael Rosenbaum is the producer.

THE COURT-MARTIAL OF WILLIE BRAND – A soldier convicted of assaulting and maiming an Afghan prisoner who died says he was only doing what he was trained to do. Scott Pelley reports. Shawn Efran is the producer.

THE PRINCE OF POT - Canadian Marc Emery's mail-order marijuana seed business was ignored by Canadian officials, but below the border, U.S. officials want to prosecute him for crimes that could land him in jail for life. Bob Simon reports. Catherine Olian is the producer.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Ask the fundies who would like to see Marc Emery go to jail

who made marijuana.... they just may blame it on evolution.

[nuxvomica]

6. Hmmm. I had never thought of that angle before

"For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God." Hebrews 6:7

:smoke:

[HysteryDiagnosis]

8. Yeah well.... they'll tell you god made arsenic too but that doesn't

mean that it is good for you..... on the other hand, anything that makes one think can't be all bad.

[RC]

9. Thinkin's bad ifen your a fundy.

[nuxvomica]

12. I would bet consuming either might make you think about God

The difference is that with arsenic you're not going to be thinking for very long.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

13. Everything in moderation.... isn't it arsenic that they treat dogs for

heartworms with?? It works.... but the dose must be watched very very carefully iffin I remember correctly....

[nuxvomica]

14. Yes. I think it is used in heartworm meds.

So the next time a fundie gives you the arsenic argument, tell them about heartworm. :D

[HysteryDiagnosis]

15. God made heartworms so they must be good for something... good

for killing is what I think they are good for and nothing else.

[Mass]

2. Nothing intriguing in the first case. Insurance companies negotiate

prices for their clients that an uninsured customer cannot get. It is a fact. The same thing happens with doctors and pharmacies.

I am happy that Rather is getting that on the table, because I am sure a lot of insured people do not know (until they become uninsured, that is).

[FloridaPat]

3. They need an investigation for "Is the Price Right"? Every one of

those health insurance companies that aren't really health insurance companies say they get you the same rates as those with real health insurance and that others have to pay full price. They're cheap - like $30 a month or so. Somehow an investigation doesn't seem to be needed. Action sure does.

Life in prision for using or buying marijuana but * gets away with killing thousands and he gets rich.

[Rose Siding]

4. Guess it depends on the hospital, but in my experience

they haven't been the heavies.

It's my understanding that a hospital gives sort of a discounted volume rate to ins cos. But when we've had procedures at our local hosp (that a very expensive yet crappy policy didn't touch) the hosp negotiated the price with us at a discount greater than what ins cos receive -even writing off one very large cost, based on ability to pay.

Hospitals are about to take a big hit by medicare changes. Blue Cross tripled its profits last quarter. Each medical story is important, but the ins cos skate WAY too much.

[Pirate Smile]

5. Everyone knows they make the uninsured pay more. On your PPO statements

it always shows the "official" prices for different services and then it shows the lower price your PPO has negotiated with the insurance co. to pay.

That issue was the most jaw-dropping of the Medicare Prescription Drug fiasco - the fact that they made it illegal to negotiate to get lower prices for the drugs so now everyone can pay the "official" price.

[gizmo1979]

7. I love 60 Minutes

but the problem is they expose all these horrible things,but no one does anything about them!I watch almost everyweek and I'm outraged and then I forget.

[biscotti]

10. Sometimes insurance companies do not inform customers

who think they are fulling insured, until after the fact. This happened to me. They did pay the bulk of the hospital bill at one facility and none at another.I had to go to the second hospital in-between surgeries at the first hospital for intravenous therapy for 2 months at a cost of 450 a day payed out of pocket. The second hospital would not negotiate.

[davsand]

11. That hospital story IS significant.

I'd been alerted that it was coming and had been looking for it.

What seems to be lost on a lot of people, is that those SAME hospitals that are charging the uninsured MORE for the same procedures are also tax exempt. They benefit from public subsidies as a "charity" and yet they financially rape the people who need help the most. REAL charity--eh?

What is especially frustrating is that the hospitals that have tried to work for fair pricing have shown an increase in the amounts they manage to collect. The hospital associations have refused to even really discuss the subject in spite of the financial success humanitarian behavior has shown.

The common financial "wisdom" is that the hospitals only manage to collect about 5% of the total bill from the uninsured. Hospitals that work for fair pricing are doing much better than that--and yet the hospital associations have resisted any discussions of fair pricing or sliding scale payment plans for poor and uninsured people.

Something REALLY heinous about all this is those SAME hospitals that charge poor people more then write off the uncollected amounts while they or their collection agencies continue to harass poor and uninsured patients. They claim this uncollected cash as a form of "Charity" in a Community Benefits Report.

They KNOW they could make more by being fair, they know they are screwing the people they are supposed to help as a charity, and yet many (most) refuse to discount to the poor or uninsured.

This has been a dirty little secret for too long.

I am very proud to see this hit 60 minutes.



Laura

[Kolesar]

16. I wish I had seen that segment--thanks for the summary

Tuned in for the torture story.

[annofark]

17. You are so right Laura

"What seems to be lost on a lot of people, is that those SAME hospitals that are charging the uninsured MORE for the same procedures are also tax exempt. They benefit from public subsidies as a "charity" and yet they financially rape the people who need help the most. REAL charity--eh?"

Laura, you are so right and very few people do know this. One big offender is Catholic Hospitals. These 501c3 Catholic Hospitals are price gouging just like other hospitals, which means that they are totally going against the Catholic Mission.

I have seen ads that speak out against Catholic Hospitals gouging the uninsured from a group called the Fairness Foundation. www.fairnessfoundation.org

[davsand]

18. That ad from, the Fairness Foundation is awesome.

Seems a shame that the Springfield Journal Register refused to run it. I saw that last week and just about fell out of my chair. I wish MORE people would look at that ad. Pretty much hammers home what that health care advocacy people have been saying for a long time...

Here in Illinois, our state house passed a bill last week that addresses the inequity in charges for the poor and uninsured. Unfortunately, it is so watered down that it is damn near useless. I am most unhappy with how it was "modified" one it got out of committee. I guess the Illinois Hospital Association managed to twist enough arms to get that kind of modification out of a Dem controlled body.

Seems to me that the hospital association might like to look at the information that is emerging from places where they have modified hospital billing and they are collecting more cash. You have to wonder how financially astute these hospital execs are to push the limits until the government steps in and forces some kind of sanity--especially since they are clinging to a business model that is proven to be less profitable.

I have to say, however, I am VERY happy to see the nature of the discussion turn to WHAT exactly our society is getting in return for those hospital exemptions. It has now gone way beyond the old statement from the hospital associations "you should be happy to even HAVE a local hospital."



Laura

[Left Turn]

19. Totally.

I agree, I think it's great that someone is shining light on this issue. It is simply wrong for people with out insurance to have to pay MORE for their services...they are the ones most in need. The fact that Catholic hospitals have played a roll in this as well is appalling. Hopefully the attention being given to this issue will lead to some reforms.