Scott Wahlin, CGCS said: Efficient hospitals that rely on Medicaid and Medicare patients can make a profit on them with comparable results as less efficient hospitals with other significant sources of revenues. These other hospitals can work with these people by offering care below cost. It just depends on what your level of cost is. Having said that hospitals spend $49 billion annually providing care to the uninsured.
Great Point Scott, if Hospitals are loosing $49 Billion on the uninsured. they are loosing $490 Billion on Medicare. They have to make up the difference somewhere, guess who pays the difference, the poor schlock with health insurance, because health insurance does not have the power behind them that government does, and most plans are only as good as their pool. The biggest cause of healthcare inflation is medicare cost shifting.
Medicare is hardly efficient! Yes hospitals are mining ($$) the plan for money finding the procedures that medicare over pays and making sure almost every senior who comes in gets those tests and procedures. This is exactly why turning healthcare lock, stock, and barrel over to the government is a bad idea.