OT: dentist

[Larry Blanchard]

Ouch! Bad joke :-). But preferable to the dingbats who hijacked the thread to foam at the mouth about Obamacare.

[krw]

...and their political cronies.

That's the only thing universal about the plan.

[Frank Stutzman]

I was the IT manager of an family practice metical clinic that implemented an electronic medical records system a decade before Obamacare was a twinkle in Mit Romenys eye. Was very expensive to implement both in capital costs and implementation. Why bother? Simply because it was the only way for them to get vaguely timely payments from the insurance companies.

In many ways this provision of ACA is another benefit to the insurance industry.

Untrue. Do you realized that many specialist have been outsourced? Lab results for anything other than the most trival tests are rarely done in-house. Way too expensive to have an in-house equipement to do, say, blood gases when you may only have to do a handful in a year. Do you realize that the interpretation of x-rays and sonagrams are often done by specialist many miles or even countries away?

[Leon]

Where in the constitution does it say that you can't run a stop sign? If you want the proof, try and disprove it.

[Just Wondering]

The Tenth Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Since the Constitution does not delegate to the federal government the power to regulate local vehicle traffic, that power is reserved to the States. Cities and counties are subdivisions of the states, who collectively, under the Constitution, have the power under the Tenth Amendment to regulate local vehicle traffic. That includes the state/local government power to erect stop signs and provide penalties for failing to stop at an intersection where a stop sign has been erected.

Since I took the time to show how the Constitution allows states to regulate traffic, return the favor, and show me where the Constitution empowers Congress to enact federal laws regulating the accuracy and universality of medical record keeping.

[Leon]

Keep Looking you will find it. You are the one that wants to know right? '~)

[Doug Winterburn]

I looked at the enumerated powers of the Federal Government under the Constitution:

Nope, not there.

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------------------------------------ Sounds about right.

I just had my teeth cleaned and the fee was $132 less 10% senior citizen discount.

Lew

[Keith Nuttle]

"To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;"

Since I was not alive when the FDA was created, I assume like the ability to tax citizens for not having health insurance, it was considered constitutional under the commerce section of the constitution. With the FDA regulating drugs and medical devices, it provide a uniform set of law for all states to operate under when engaged in interstate commerce.

I believe this same section was the justification for the social security system.

The commerce section has been significantly been abused, as with the obamacare ruling. Tax are to be applied equally, not targeted at specific groups or individuals, which obamacare does

[dadiOH]

Constitution? They don' need no steenkin' constitution.

[Ray]

A lot depends on the dentist. A local "Modern Dentist" sent flyers for $29 cleaning plus X-rays and pictures with a free electric tooth brush. The results were I was not eligible for that cleaning because I had periodontal disease so I needed their $1000 cleaning. There were 2 crowns they would like to replace at $2000 each and 3 fillings for $400 each. The pictures were first class, the 3d x-rays were amazing. The office was high tech. I went elsewhere.

I went to an old fashion dentist. His office straight out of the

70's. Cleaning is $75. One crown has a small hole with the underlying tooth is sound. If it becomes a problem he can fill it through the hole. At 40 years old it is still perfectly sound. He did 3 surfaces with UV cured acrylic material. It took an hour and he charged $112. I have had literally hundreds of cavities filled using this technology with out a problem.

The first dentist I went to had a foot powered drill. He peddled it like an old sew>> My wife went to the dentist today. $150 for a simple

[Just Wondering]

Wrong. Maybe you got lost in the thread. To recap: [e-mail] posted: "... other than ensuring the accuracy and universality of the record keeping, government shouldn't need to know the content of those records." I questioned the federal government's constitutional power to act in that area: "Where in the United States Constitution does it say that Congress shall have the power to enact laws regulating the accuracy and universality of medical record keeping?" I think there is no such authority. If [e-mail] or anyone else thinks the government should be able to ensure (or otherwise regulate) the accuracy and universality of medical recordkeeping, the burden is on those who advocate in favor of that position to support it.

[Just Wondering]

My point exactly.

[Leon]

Exactly

[Ed Pawlowski]

Agree on government involvement.

Not that simple. My wife went into a hospital about 500 miles from home on a Sunday when her regular doctor's office is closed. Would have been nice to have some additional information.

Happens more than you think. Again, personal experience when my wife needs her blood checked when we travel. My daughter had a CT scan at our hospital about a mile from us, but the results came from a doctor that read the scan 250 miles away at a Philadelphia hospital.

While the government does not need to be involved, having access can be life saving. Perhaps a person could carry an electronic key to be used when needed.

[Unquestionably Confused]

Barack, baby? You here?

[krw]

Nowhere. With one exception, the Constitution has nothing to do with individuals. It *only* addresses what the US government *can* do (not what it can't). It is *only* a limitation on the government.

[jo4hn]

Amen. And Merry Christmas to all. mahalo, jo4hn

[John Grossbohlin]

Yes, the list does go on and on... As the ultimate payer for Medicare and Medicaid the government has and will continue to collect medical data on anyone covered under those programs. With subsidies under ACA they also now have an interest from the payer perspective for commercial lines of business. They use the medical encounter data to ferret out fraud (which historically has been rampant) and they also monitor the quality of care providers render. Under CMS's Stars program the insurance companies are reimbursed based on the quality of care their providers render. As such the plans analyze the encounter data and undertake provider education initiatives so that providers follow best practices. Members shopping Docs to obtain drugs are also identified through the data. You may have heard about insurance companies terminating contracts with thousands of providers recently... the vast majority of those cases were the result of the provider not following best practices, i.e., rendering inadequate care, often despite years of interventions by the plans.

Self funded plans (where a company pays the claims themselves) have an interest in improving the care and health of their employees also. While they don't see the individual employees' data they do see aggregated data... they want to see an improvement in their employees' health over time. This improvement comes about as a result of health improvement programs (e.g., stop smoking, exercise, nutrition) and through high quality preventative care.

Regarding privacy in the U.S... we have no privacy. Whether it's health data, surveillance cameras, credit card transaction data, loyalty programs at stores, education systems, internet, TV and phone utilization records... we are all under surveillance with or without government involvement.

[Leon]

AAMOF you have been sharing personal data with the government since your feet were inked and stamped on your birth certificate.