While the advent of electronic medical records (EMR) was supposed to reduce costs, expenses have actually risen, the NYT has found. Hospitals that obtained government incentives to adopt EMRs received a 47% increase in Medicare payments at higher levels from 2006-2010, well above the 32% rise at hospitals that didn't receive the inducements. A main reason is that EMRs have made fraud easier to carry out. [View news story]
Actually, EMR's help the providers to get 'properly' reimbursed for their services, rather than contribute to fraud. Providers have, in the past, tended to 'undercode' their services, in order to avoid time-consuming record audits to which insurers subject them for any 'high level' services billed. Extensive paperwork is generally necessary to justify any such services in the medical records, and the audits further add to office overhead. EMR's simplify such record-keeping, as well as simplify the responses to substantiate these claims. Though I am not trying to say that fraud does not occasionally occur on the part of such providers, the more important fraud is that of the insurers, including Medicare & Medicaid, who, over the last twenty years of attempted medical cost-containment, have used smoke & mirrors to obfuscate proper reimbursement for medical services to levels which barely cover provider overhead.
Apr. Nonfarm Payrolls:+115K vs. consensus of +165K, prior 120K. Unemployment 8.1% vs 8.2% expected. Average workweek 34.5 in-line with expectations [View news story]
always puzzles me when people criticize 'trickle-down' econ. Isn't all private business really 'trickle down'? Only direct gov't employment is not of that category, and we all know how well Keynes is currently working. Maybe I'm missing something.
Apr. Nonfarm Payrolls:+115K vs. consensus of +165K, prior 120K. Unemployment 8.1% vs 8.2% expected. Average workweek 34.5 in-line with expectations [View news story]
forecasters atleast have a lrg amt of science behind them these days. Can't be said for the others.
If you're not bribing, you're not trying. A misquote of retired baseball player Mark Grace suddenly seems appropriate with a bevy of U.S. companies now under suspicion of engaging in systemic bribing in order to land new business. A whopping 81 public companies are reportedly under investigation for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Headliners: WMT, AVP, QCOM, DE, LVS. [View news story]
has anyone out there ever heard the word 'bakshish'? It's part of the Mexican constitution, as well as that of most other places.
Action film The Hunger Games (LGF) gathers $68.25M in domestic box office, the fifth-best single-day gross ever - and may get into Harry Potter finale territory before the weekend is out. (earlier: I, II) [View news story]
but why was he pushing it so avidly 2 wks ago? And why wasn't he recommending dumping on Wednesday?
There's tasty growth expected out there for some stocks - but it comes at a price (P/Es of 30, 40 or much more for stocks like CMG and ISRG, vs. 13 for the S&P 500). A few hints on what to look for to see if your stock will keep growing: organic growth, sustainability via return on invested capital, and using measures like relative valuation to see which shares are too pricey. [View news story]
Interesting fact is that though DaVinci system may be faddish, these days any hospital that wants to call itself 'top of line' is practically obligated to own (and use) at least one. So far, saturation of such systems is low, and has far to go. Virtually no competition! Above comment re:NVDQ is very pertinent along same lines.
Sorry, but profit making insurance companies are only working at about 2% profit, out of which those exorbitant exec salaries & bonuses come. If these expenses are completely eliminated, an individual's annual premium rate will only be reduced, perhaps, by $100----not very impressive. The not-for-profits didn't serve to control the continued escalation of health care costs. Medicare & Medicaid serve as good examples of this problem, as they are technically 'not-for-profit', but suffer the same problem of escalating costs as the for-profits.
you fail to take into account several things which tend to skew your numbers. 1) Canada has a fairly stable, relatively homogeneous population with relatively few indigents, as we have here in the US. Inherent in this is generally lower healthcare costs. 2)Try to even get a visa into Canada if you are old and infirmed, and you will find it very difficult! This is another, more subtle way of controlling medical costs. 3) Medical liability in Canada is far more controlled than in USA, so that the "more per capita surgeries" require far less investigative diagnostics which can add substantially to overall costs. I could go on, but these are atleast a few things to consider before people are so adamant about socialized medicine.
you're referring to only a very small portion of the national, as well as the overall world population. I have no excuses for the recalcitrance of either of the congressional parties in doing anything to 'slow' the overal regression, but regression it shall be!
In the current state of the world, you have to be a real optimist to think that the US or European economies are going to be able to do anything to significantly increase employment in any meaningful way. To me, the fundamental question is whether capitalism can survive without colonialism. While capitalism was formerly successful as the result of taking advantage of others, nowadays we are moralistically required to support 'emerging markets' so that they can purchase the goods that we (used to) produce: but supporting these markets is helping to destroy our own economy.. These same emerging markets now are the producers of many of these same goods which we used to produce.. The only significant thing left for us to do is repair and upgrade infrastructure, which will be done mostly with imported goods, and only at government expense. In a world of 7 billion, probably only 3 billion are needed to produce & service all of the goods required by mankind, and most of the 3 billion workers are available in these emerging markets that we support. The other 4 billion are essentially economic parasites, whether children, retirees, unemployed, disabled, etc. Does anyone remember the old principle of 'Regression to the Mean', cause that's where we're headed, and the 'mean' is going to be a lot meaner than we're used to. Happy holidays to all :-)
An al Qaeda plot to car-bomb bridges or tunnels in New York or Washington to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on Sunday is credible but uncorroborated, says NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The NYPD will increase manpower and the towing of illegally parked cars. [View news story]
What a simple way to further deteriorate the US economy! Just generate a rumor of possible terrorist activity and throw another 100 million on the debt pile.
While the advent of electronic medical records (EMR) was supposed to reduce costs, expenses have actually risen, the NYT has found. Hospitals that obtained government incentives to adopt EMRs received a 47% increase in Medicare payments at higher levels from 2006-2010, well above the 32% rise at hospitals that didn't receive the inducements. A main reason is that EMRs have made fraud easier to carry out. [View news story]
EMR's simplify such record-keeping, as well as simplify the responses to substantiate these claims.
Though I am not trying to say that fraud does not occasionally occur on the part of such providers, the more important fraud is that of the insurers, including Medicare & Medicaid, who, over the last twenty years of attempted medical cost-containment, have used smoke & mirrors to obfuscate proper reimbursement for medical services to levels which barely cover provider overhead.
The Time To Buy Arena Pharmaceuticals Is Now [View article]
Apr. Nonfarm Payrolls: +115K vs. consensus of +165K, prior 120K. Unemployment 8.1% vs 8.2% expected. Average workweek 34.5 in-line with expectations [View news story]
Apr. Nonfarm Payrolls: +115K vs. consensus of +165K, prior 120K. Unemployment 8.1% vs 8.2% expected. Average workweek 34.5 in-line with expectations [View news story]
If you're not bribing, you're not trying. A misquote of retired baseball player Mark Grace suddenly seems appropriate with a bevy of U.S. companies now under suspicion of engaging in systemic bribing in order to land new business. A whopping 81 public companies are reportedly under investigation for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Headliners: WMT, AVP, QCOM, DE, LVS. [View news story]
Action film The Hunger Games (LGF) gathers $68.25M in domestic box office, the fifth-best single-day gross ever - and may get into Harry Potter finale territory before the weekend is out. (earlier: I, II) [View news story]
There's tasty growth expected out there for some stocks - but it comes at a price (P/Es of 30, 40 or much more for stocks like CMG and ISRG, vs. 13 for the S&P 500). A few hints on what to look for to see if your stock will keep growing: organic growth, sustainability via return on invested capital, and using measures like relative valuation to see which shares are too pricey. [View news story]
Above comment re:NVDQ is very pertinent along same lines.
Cramer's Mad Money - 10 Things To Watch In The Coming Week (12/16/11) [View article]
Where Will The Jobs Come From? [View article]
Where Will The Jobs Come From? [View article]
1) Canada has a fairly stable, relatively homogeneous population with relatively few indigents, as we have here in the US. Inherent in this is generally lower healthcare costs.
2)Try to even get a visa into Canada if you are old and infirmed, and you will find it very difficult! This is another, more subtle way of controlling medical costs.
3) Medical liability in Canada is far more controlled than in USA, so that the "more per capita surgeries" require far less investigative diagnostics which can add substantially to overall costs.
I could go on, but these are atleast a few things to consider before people are so adamant about socialized medicine.
Where Will The Jobs Come From? [View article]
Where Will The Jobs Come From? [View article]
Where Will The Jobs Come From? [View article]
To me, the fundamental question is whether capitalism can survive without colonialism. While capitalism was formerly successful as the result of taking advantage of others, nowadays we are moralistically required to support 'emerging markets' so that they can purchase the goods that we (used to) produce: but supporting these markets is helping to destroy our own economy.. These same emerging markets now are the producers of many of these same goods which we used to produce.. The only significant thing left for us to do is repair and upgrade infrastructure, which will be done mostly with imported goods, and only at government expense.
In a world of 7 billion, probably only 3 billion are needed to produce & service all of the goods required by mankind, and most of the 3 billion workers are available in these emerging markets that we support. The other 4 billion are essentially economic parasites, whether children, retirees, unemployed, disabled, etc.
Does anyone remember the old principle of 'Regression to the Mean', cause that's where we're headed, and the 'mean' is going to be a lot meaner than we're used to.
Happy holidays to all :-)
An al Qaeda plot to car-bomb bridges or tunnels in New York or Washington to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on Sunday is credible but uncorroborated, says NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The NYPD will increase manpower and the towing of illegally parked cars. [View news story]
Avastin at the FDA: Passion Should Lose [View article]