Cancer clinics are turning away thousands of Medicare patients. Blame the sequester

Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

Patients at these clinics would need to seek treatment elsewhere, such as at hospitals that might not have the capacity to accommodate them.

“If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we’d be out of business in six months to a year,” said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York. “The drugs we’re going to lose money on we’re not going to administer right now.”

After an emergency meeting Tuesday, Vacirca’s clinics decided that they would no longer see one-third of their 16,000 Medicare patients
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/

Chrissy wrote:Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

Patients at these clinics would need to seek treatment elsewhere, such as at hospitals that might not have the capacity to accommodate them.

“If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we’d be out of business in six months to a year,” said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York. “The drugs we’re going to lose money on we’re not going to administer right now.”

After an emergency meeting Tuesday, Vacirca’s clinics decided that they would no longer see one-third of their 16,000 Medicare patients
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/

In other words, they can't overcharge the medicare patients anymore and will only keep the one's they can become rich on.

Dreamsglore wrote:

Chrissy wrote:Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

Patients at these clinics would need to seek treatment elsewhere, such as at hospitals that might not have the capacity to accommodate them.

“If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we’d be out of business in six months to a year,” said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York. “The drugs we’re going to lose money on we’re not going to administer right now.”

After an emergency meeting Tuesday, Vacirca’s clinics decided that they would no longer see one-third of their 16,000 Medicare patients
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/

In other words, they can't overcharge the medicare patients anymore and will only keep the one's they can become rich on.

40' boat instead of 45' boat.

im beginning to see ya'll logic.

you just want all health care professionals to get a pay deduction. YOu want healthcare professionals to pay for obamacare out of their pocket twice. I see how it is.

medicare don't pay that well, you know. chemo therapy cost a lot.

Chrissy wrote:im beginning to see ya'll logic.

you just want all health care professionals to get a pay deduction. YOu want healthcare professionals to pay for obamacare out of their pocket twice. I see how it is.

medicare don't pay that well, you know. chemo therapy cost a lot.

Only in this country healthcare costs a lot. That's because we are greedy capitalists that believe we are entitled to gouge as much as we can from whoever we can. We consider healthcare needs as survival of the financially fittest. You are not entitled to be well in this country if you are poor but you are entitled to get rich on the backs of poor people.

Dreamsglore wrote:

Chrissy wrote:im beginning to see ya'll logic.

you just want all health care professionals to get a pay deduction. YOu want healthcare professionals to pay for obamacare out of their pocket twice. I see how it is.

medicare don't pay that well, you know. chemo therapy cost a lot.

Only in this country healthcare costs a lot. That's because we are greedy capitalists that believe we are entitled to gouge as much as we can from whoever we can. We consider healthcare needs as survival of the financially fittest. You are not entitled to be well in this country if you are poor but you are entitled to get rich on the backs of poor people.

I don't want to hear this bullshit again.

just the facts.

patients are being dropped because funds have been cut. keep it simple

People are grossly overcharged for healthcare in this country. I'm glad the medicare and other provider payments were cut. They were paid too much and it's about time something was done about it.

Dreamsglore wrote:People are grossly overcharged for healthcare in this country. I'm glad the medicare and other provider payments were cut. They were paid too much and it's about time something was done about it.

I think it is the high cost of health care in our country that brought about the need for the ACA. If costs aren 't controlled in some manner, we will definitely end up with a universal health care system, i.e. Medicare for all, because that may be the only way this country will ever be able to rein in health care cost.

Furthermore, the health care profit bubble had to burst sometime. That time is now. And Chrissy, that's a fact.

I have no pity for the oncologists who are refusing to treat patients. None whatsoever. The old saying "what goes around comes around" springs to mind.

.....and when I speak of health care profit, I am also referring to non-profit systems that roll those profits over into larger and more aesthetically pleasing health care facilities that provide care to the well-insured instead of focusing on providing care to those in their respective communities that can't afford comprehensive health care.

Again, no pity.

I go for my two shots in my buttocks at 8 in the morning. It is 11k for the right cheek, and 11k for the left cheek. My tumors have stopped growing the last quarter since they doubled my shots, and they are seeing death of some of the surface vascular systems of the tumors. The second shot is buying me critical time. However, my doctor advised me that when I go on Medicare, they will not pay for the second shot. I will have to come up with 11k to survive. So please understand that Medicare had limits on cancer treatment prior to the Affordable Care Act. It is a manipulation of the truth to not realize that limits on treatment under medicare have always existed. Fortunately, statistically I have less than a 10% chance to make it to 65, so I will never see my family suffer as a result of medicare not being able to give me the second shot......for me to fade away with the best available care will allow my family to realize that some things are beyond the province of man, rather than focusing their anger over the loss on the government.

Does that include the $700 BILLION President Barack Hussein Obama has already cut from Medicare?

Dreamsglore wrote:People are grossly overcharged for healthcare in this country. I'm glad the medicare and other provider payments were cut. They were paid too much and it's about time something was done about it.

Then I hope you're eager for the lines in Canada too. If what they do is so simple, why didn't you become neuro-surgeon or oncologist?

Chrissy wrote:

Dreamsglore wrote:

Chrissy wrote:im beginning to see ya'll logic.

you just want all health care professionals to get a pay deduction. YOu want healthcare professionals to pay for obamacare out of their pocket twice. I see how it is.

medicare don't pay that well, you know. chemo therapy cost a lot.

Only in this country healthcare costs a lot. That's because we are greedy capitalists that believe we are entitled to gouge as much as we can from whoever we can. We consider healthcare needs as survival of the financially fittest. You are not entitled to be well in this country if you are poor but you are entitled to get rich on the backs of poor people.

I don't want to hear this bullshit again.

just the facts.

patients are being dropped because funds have been cut. keep it simple

Patients in Great Britain are being put on the Liverpool pathway, some without even the knowledge of the patient or their family. Is it okay to crank up those death panels here right now too?

Does that include the $700 BILLION President Barack Hussein Obama has already cut from Medicare?

Yep, the same 700 billion included in all budgets presented on both sides of the Aisle. Again, blaming the President when nobody has argued anything different, including the candidates who lost to the President.

Markle wrote:Does that include the $700 BILLION President Barack Hussein Obama has already cut from Medicare?

Ok, most of the cuts were to insurance companies for reimbursements for Med Advantage plans. Humana and United Health Care lobbied like hell and they were reversed April 2 and April 3 Humana, UHC, Wellpoint and other traded healthcare stocks shot up. The 2.5% cuts suddenly went away and reimbursements up.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/26/21-graphs-that-show-americas-health-care-prices-are-ludicrous/

"Every year, the International Federation of Health Plans — a global insurance trade association that includes more than 100 insurers in 25 countries — releases survey data showing the prices that insurers are actually paying for different drugs, devices, and medical services in different countries. And every year, the data is shocking.
The IFHP just released the data for 2012. And yes, once again, the numbers are shocking.
This is the fundamental fact of American health care: We pay much, much more than other countries do for the exact same things. For a detailed explanation of why, see this article. But this post isn’t about the why. It’s about the prices, and the graphs.
One note: Prices in the United States are expressed as a range. There’s a reason for that. In other countries, prices are set centrally and most everyone, no matter their region or insurance arrangement, pays pretty close to the same amount. In the United States, each insurer negotiates its own prices, and different insurers end up paying wildly different amounts. That’s what Steven Brill’s explosive article was about, and it’s why you see U.S. prices expressed as a range rather than a single number..."

(follow the link to see the graphs)

Most things are more expensive in the United States. Don't worry tho... that's being fundamentally transformed comrade.

Dreamsglore wrote:

Chrissy wrote:Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

Patients at these clinics would need to seek treatment elsewhere, such as at hospitals that might not have the capacity to accommodate them.

“If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we’d be out of business in six months to a year,” said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York. “The drugs we’re going to lose money on we’re not going to administer right now.”

After an emergency meeting Tuesday, Vacirca’s clinics decided that they would no longer see one-third of their 16,000 Medicare patients
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/

In other words, they can't overcharge the medicare patients anymore and will only keep the one's they can become rich on.

No broomrider, hospitals are a business just like any other. They have salaries and overhead to pay just like the local hamburger joint. They can't use drugs that cannot be fully paid for and that is unfortunate, but you can thank the SEQUESTER.

PACEDOG#1 wrote:

Dreamsglore wrote:

Chrissy wrote:Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

Patients at these clinics would need to seek treatment elsewhere, such as at hospitals that might not have the capacity to accommodate them.

“If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we’d be out of business in six months to a year,” said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York. “The drugs we’re going to lose money on we’re not going to administer right now.”

After an emergency meeting Tuesday, Vacirca’s clinics decided that they would no longer see one-third of their 16,000 Medicare patients
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/

In other words, they can't overcharge the medicare patients anymore and will only keep the one's they can become rich on.

No broomrider, hospitals are a business just like any other. They have salaries and overhead to pay just like the local hamburger joint. They can't use drugs that cannot be fully paid for and that is unfortunate, but you can thank the SEQUESTER.

"Research shows that prescription drug prices in the United States are the highest in the world. According to Barlett and Steele in Time Magazine in 2004, "The prices Americans pay for prescription drugs, which are far higher than those paid by citizens of any other developed country, help explain why the pharmaceutical industry is — and has been for years — the most profitable of all businesses in the U.S. In the annual Fortune 500 survey, the pharmaceutical industry topped the list of the most profitable industries, with a return of 17% on revenue."[1] National expenditures on pharmaceuticals accounted for 12.9% of total health care costs, compared to an OECD average of 17.7% (2003 figures).[2] The high price of prescription drugs is one of the major areas of discussion in the U.S. health care reform debate."

PACEDOG#1 wrote:

Dreamsglore wrote:

Chrissy wrote:Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

Patients at these clinics would need to seek treatment elsewhere, such as at hospitals that might not have the capacity to accommodate them.

“If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we’d be out of business in six months to a year,” said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York. “The drugs we’re going to lose money on we’re not going to administer right now.”

After an emergency meeting Tuesday, Vacirca’s clinics decided that they would no longer see one-third of their 16,000 Medicare patients
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/

In other words, they can't overcharge the medicare patients anymore and will only keep the one's they can become rich on.

No broomrider, hospitals are a business just like any other. They have salaries and overhead to pay just like the local hamburger joint. They can't use drugs that cannot be fully paid for and that is unfortunate, but you can thank the SEQUESTER.

Geez...was there anyone that predicted healthcare problems especially with the government running things?...Maybe they should merge with the Post Office...

newswatcher wrote:

PACEDOG#1 wrote:

Dreamsglore wrote:

Chrissy wrote:Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

Patients at these clinics would need to seek treatment elsewhere, such as at hospitals that might not have the capacity to accommodate them.

“If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we’d be out of business in six months to a year,” said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York. “The drugs we’re going to lose money on we’re not going to administer right now.”

After an emergency meeting Tuesday, Vacirca’s clinics decided that they would no longer see one-third of their 16,000 Medicare patients
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/

In other words, they can't overcharge the medicare patients anymore and will only keep the one's they can become rich on.

No broomrider, hospitals are a business just like any other. They have salaries and overhead to pay just like the local hamburger joint. They can't use drugs that cannot be fully paid for and that is unfortunate, but you can thank the SEQUESTER.

Geez...was there anyone that predicted healthcare problems especially with the government running things?...Maybe they should merge with the Post Office...

The Govt. runs the military you so proudly espouse and get a check from. No problems there,huh?

PkrBum wrote:Most things are more expensive in the United States. Don't worry tho... that's being fundamentally transformed comrade.

I'm not your comrade. Liberalism is not communism. And our collective (no pun) problems did not arise from liberal philosophy, but from rampant unregulated greed and immorality.

Why is every single person on this forum being arbitrarily classified by some forum members as either a liberal or a conservative?

It's as if those doing the classifying aren't aware that most people's opinions fall squarely in the gray area. Also, there are those like me who hold positions that clearly fall under both categories along with moderate positions that would be considered fence-riding by the official forum point-of-view classification committee.

I'm a comrade when it comes to health care and gay rights and a patriot when it comes to gun rights, taxation and issues of eminent domain.

From now on, I wish to be referred to as a patriocom, if you please.

People attempt to generalize and classify to discount an opinion. It is a classic propaganda technique which skirts the truth and allows an individual not to give consideration to substance, when the label is attached, the classic association follows, and the substance is bypassed.

PBulldog2 wrote:Why is every single person on this forum being arbitrarily classified by some forum members as either a liberal or a conservative?

It's as if those doing the classifying aren't aware that most people's opinions fall squarely in the gray area. Also, there are those like me who hold positions that clearly fall under both categories along with moderate positions that would be considered fence-riding by the official forum point-of-view classification committee.

I'm a comrade when it comes to health care and gay rights and a patriot when it comes to gun rights, taxation and issues of eminent domain.

From now on, I wish to be referred to as a patriocom, if you please.

You may fairly deserve that title... others not so much. I use the term comrade to signify a lack of free critical thght.