By James T. Mulder
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)
Copyright 2006 Post-Standard
All Rights Reserved
Q) Does Medicare pay for ambulance transportation to a doctor’s office?
A) No. Medicare pays for medically necessary ambulance transportation to a hospital or skilled nursing facility.
An ambulance is considered medically necessary when transportation of the patient by any other method - car, taxi, wheelchair, van invalid coach, bus, etc. - would endanger the patient’s health.
Medicare will not pay for the use of an ambulance as a convenience.
Get ready for double-digit premium hikes at HMOs
Look for HMO premiums to rise 10 percent to 11 percent in 2007 and PPO premiums to go up 12 percent to 13 percent, according to an annual survey by Milliman, a Seattle insurance actuarial firm.
The survey showed the growth of health insurance premiums has slowed significantly in 2006, growing at the lowest rate since 1997. HMO premiums increased 6 percent and PPO premiums went up 4 percent in 2006, the survey showed.
Consumers can lower annual premiums by about $565 by increasing their deductibles from $250 to $1,000 and cut annual premiums by $900 by raising the deductible from $250 to $2,000, the survey reported.
The Milliman survey showed the vast majority of plans are offering employers so-called consumer-directed health plans that combine high-deductible policies with either health reimbursement accounts or health savings accounts.
NY health insurance costs increase faster than wages
Health-care premiums rose about 5.5 times faster than earnings for New York’s working families from 2000 to 2006. according to a report by Families USA, a national consumer group.
During that six-year period, health-care premiums rose by about 72 percent while median earnings rose by 13 percent.
For family health coverage provided through the workplace in New York, annual health insurance premiums during the six-year period rose from $7,090 to $12,183.
Most doctors think about quitting as red tape grows
Doctors are bummed out. Physician morale is so low, nearly 60 percent of doctors surveyed in the 2006 American College of Physician Executives’ Physician Morale Survey have considered abandoning medicine.
The surveys said the top five factors contributing to low morale are low reimbursement, loss of autonomy, bureaucratic red tape, patient overload and loss of respect.
Web site on doctor discipline rates No. 4 among states
New York state ranks fourth in a Public Citizen survey of the content and user-friendliness of doctor disciplinary information found on state medical board Web sites.
Public Citizen said most sites are seriously deficient in providing this information to patients.
State medical boards are responsible for taking action against physician misconduct, such as negligence and incompetence, and making information about those disciplinary actions available to the public.
New Jersey’s Web site received the best overall score while North Dakota received the worst. New York doctor disciplinary action is available on the state Health Department Web site.