Rabies Shenanigans & Home and Community Based Care
A free public service for a better community
Happy Thursday Advocates
Your comments, suggestions, and research topics are greatly appreciated via comment the button.
Rabies, Bats & Massive Overcharging
There have been a lot of stories in the news recently about rabies, rabies vaccines and hospital emergency rooms overcharging for rabies inoculations. This story was from earlier this year.
A California couple was charged over $200,000 for a single visit to the emergency room for rabies shots after encountering a bat in their home, according to ABC 7 News. Here is a link to the whole story.
A couple caught and released a bat that flew into their home. They weren’t bit but their doctor recommended getting rabies shots anyway.
The first shot had to be administered in an emergency room. The couple received their shots at a local nonprofit hospital. A rabies shot, which normally costs between $1,200 and $6,800, ended up costing over $200,000.
The nonprofit hospital, which lists the price of a rabies vaccine on their website at $547.65, did not provide an itemized bill or explanation of services provided. With plan discounts, the couple’s insurance company paid over $58,000 for the treatment, leaving them a bill of just over $3,500.
So posted price was $547.65, and insurance paid $58,000 and everyone’s rates get to go up next year to account for this nonsense.
We Need Universal Healthcare - Quick!!!
As an aside a few weeks ago a congressperson, Representative Ami Bera M.D. was bit by a fox and found out about all the shenanigans in rabies pricing. He introduced the Affordable Rabies Treatment for All Act of 2023 would require that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) establish a reimbursement program for health care providers when they provide rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and other rabies related services to uninsured individuals. Here is a link to the bill, HR 5782.
This is exactly how we got to where we are in our bandaid - patchwork healthcare system. Little by little we make small modifications to fix individual problems instead of implementing a designed system to fix the problem for all of us..
Apparently once you actually experience the pain you do something about it. I only wish they felt the pain of not having universal healthcare.
Home and Community Based Health Care Funding
Many older adults and people with disabilities who need help with daily activities such as eating, dressing, traveling to work or school, and managing finances, are eligible for Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) to support their everyday needs. These beneficiaries have immediate access to nursing homes or other institutional settings. But if they want to remain in their homes with the help of Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), they are often put on a waiting list. As of 2021, over half a million people in the U.S. were on waitlists to receive services, with an average wait of 44 months. Medicaid policy has always paid for nursing home and other institutional care for those eligible for LTSS but will not pay for home and community-based services unless a waiver has been granted.
In March of this year, Senator Bob Casey and Representative Debbie Dingell introduced the HCBS Access Act (S. 762/H.R. 1493), which would make HCBS a mandatory Medicaid benefit, increase funding for HCBS, and improve staffing and training for direct care workers. Last month, Senator Casey and Representative Dingell came through for the disabled community again by introducing the HCBS Relief Act (S. 3118/H.R. 6296), which would provide the extra funding that would be needed in order to achieve the goals of the HCBS Access Act. (Thanks to Rogan’s List)
ACTION
Let's contact our Member of Congress and our Senators and tell them to pass the HCBS Access Act (S. 762/HR 1493) and the HCBS Relief Act (S. 3118/ HR 6296) to help those with disabilities and those who need extra help get the medical services and assistance they need without a nearly 4 year wait. Contact info for them is in the Resources section below. You can use RESISTBOT to send the email below by texting SIGN PWXZWH to 50409.
“I am your constituent and I want you to know there are many older Americans and disabled persons who need help at home. Medicaid will pay to institutionalize them but if they would prefer help at home Medicaid needs a waiver and does not have the resources. Waitlists are averaging 44 months to get help. But you can help them now.
The best help you could give them would be to pass HR 3421 the Improved Medicare for All Act instead of putting band aid fixes on top of band aid fixes in our broken healthcare system.
However, since I have your attention I want you to support and pass two bills, the HCBS Access Act (S. 762/H.R. 1493) and HCBS Relief Act (S. 3118/H.R. 6296) to make sure they can get the services they need, when they need it and live with dignity. Thank you.”
Medicaid Update North Carolina
Medicaid is the Federal/State health care partnership that covered about 94 million of us during the pandemic. It now covers about 83 million Americans. States pay between 25% and 50% of the cost of basic Medicaid. Under the Affordable Care Act States could could expand the program to cover those whose without children whose incomes were up to about 138% of the Federal poverty limit. The state portion of the increase to Medicaid would only be 10%. Additionally, lots of people on traditional Medicaid could be moved to expanded Medicaid and the state’s cost would drop to 10%. This included people with many chronic conditions, prisoners and others.
A Commonwealth Fund investigation in 2020 found that when states expanded Medicaid they generally spent less and covered more people and increased employment, by providing more services.
A decade after the federal government began offering expanded Medicaid coverage in states that opted to accept it, hundreds of thousands of adults in North Carolina are set to receive benefits, a development that boosters say will aid hospitals and local economies in addition to the long-term uninsured. North Carolina elected officials agreed this year to expand Medicaid, which will provide the government-funded health insurance to adults ages 19 to 64 who make too much money to receive traditional Medicaid but generally not enough to benefit from public subsidies available for private health insurance. Here is a link to the story.
Extra Credit Action
Here is the contact link for the Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, https://governor.nc.gov/contact/contact-governor-cooper. We can send him a thank you note for expanding Medicaid and helping so many who need health insurance.
United Health Behemoth
UnitedHealth Group has about 90,000 employed or affiliated doctors, approximately 10% of all physicians in the U.S. The number — disclosed Wednesday at the company’s investor day by Amar Desai, the CEO of UnitedHealth’s Optum Health division . This means the company acquired or hired 20,000 doctors in the past year alone. Here is a link to the story. I included this because I was shocked to see 10% of physicians working for one company.
RESOURCES
Healthcare Advocacy (Us)
Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare
Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Find My Elected Officials
Contact the White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Contact State and Federal Representatives
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
Thanks for reading Healthcare Advocacy! Subscribe for free to receive new posts
The outrageous cost of the rabies vaccine --wouldn’t that fall into the category of “pharmaceuticals”? Big Pharm has taken massive advantage of the system and the price gouging has gone unanswered. They spend millions on tv & media advertising--that isn’t an expense that should be passed on to consumers! The rabies vaccines are certainly required and expense barriers like that place the public in danger.
Insurance and hospital reimbursement have already brought hospitals to the edge. It’s the pharmaceutical and medical supplies industries that we should be looking at for serious pricing reform.