Montana Free Market Medical Association

This challenging subject is important when thinking about health care policy.

Viewpoint: Common Good vs Greater Good; One is Often Good, One is Evil We all bear the responsibility to critically examine these policies and to resist when they infringe upon liberties, ethical standards or the rights of individuals.

Viewpoint: Honesty in Healthcare Part 4: Who Is Doing What, and What Are Their Qualifications? Patients and customers deserve full honesty and clarity.

How healthcare disintermediation can restore the doctor/patient relationship.
Doctors Keith Smith, Lee Gross, and Kathleen Brown are pioneers in this movement.

https://lnkd.in/gMmk3AN6

Viewpoint: Disintermediation – A Cure For The Doctor-Patient Relationship "There are several models that have successfully eliminated the intermediaries in healthcare and restored the doctor-patient relationship."

Is anybody not in favor of honesty in healthcare? There is a lot of dishonesty in healthcare. One antidote: courage.

Honesty in Healthcare Part 2: The Need for Courage "This is when another virtue of courage is needed, and it starts with self-honesty in recognizing when we are part of dishonesty because of employment, business interests and law."

These dramatic Medicare cuts combined with inflation are bad for physicians, but also bad for hospitals and for patients. Medicare is becoming Medicaid. Check out the graph; it’s pretty shocking. A lot of physicians are also heavily in debt, due to their education. It’s a problem without an easy answer.

Viewpoint: The Losses to Physician Medicare Reimbursement in 2022/23 are Mind-boggling. Update to “When Will Enough Be Enough.” "Inflation acts like a hidden tax which erodes the buying power of people’s income and savings and eats away at the ability to achieve long-term financial goals."

Honesty is very important in health care, and unfortunately, is often lacking.

Viewpoint: Honesty In Healthcare – A Little Bit Can Go A Long Ways "A foundation of trust is necessary for the best practice of medicine."

Politics and money should not determine what is “good science”. Good science, at it’s heart, is continually questioning and seeking objective truth. It requires honesty and integrity.

U.S. Public Health Agencies Aren't ‘Following the Science,’ Officials Say ‘People are getting bad advice and we can’t say anything.’

https://frontierinstitute.org/viewpoint-why-should-a-doctor-licensed-to-practice-in-california-be-unable-to-do-so-in-montana/

Viewpoint: Why should a doctor licensed to practice in California be unable to do so in Montana? "While the European Union allows free movement of healthcare workers across its 27 member countries, the United States does not allow this movement across state borders."

Regulations must be tempered by recognition of their downsides. States with shortages of physicians and other health care professionals should look at what they can do to decrease the obstacles to getting physicians and other health care professionals to come serve the citizens of Montana.

Viewpoint: How to Get More Physicians Practicing in Montana "It is possible to remove the licensing barriers preventing more physicians from practicing in Montana while maintaining high quality health care."

This is an important topic pertaining to health care. If you put a laughing or angry emoji on this post, it will be apparent that you haven’t read it, or are not serious about solutions.

Viewpoint: What About the Poor? "Lowering costs and improving quality is actually now happening without mandates and laws, and in spite of bureaucratic obstacles."

https://frontierinstitute.org/what-is-so-bad-about-fee-for-service/

What is so bad about Fee-For-Service? "By undermining the direct physician/patient relationship, bureaucrats have created the very moral hazards they supposedly try to cure"

https://frontierinstitute.org/what-is-so-special-about-direct-primary-care/

Viewpoint: What Is So Special About Direct Primary Care? What makes Direct Primary Care special is that it is subject to real market forces, not legislated contrivances, and that the patient is a real customer, causing excellence and value to prevail.

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https://fee.org/articles/how-montana-is-revolutionizing-healthcare-with-markets/

How One State Is Revolutionizing Healthcare—With Markets “The recent changes seem too good to be true!” one physician running a private practice said of the law.

Good news for patients. Montana now allows physicians to dispense medications.

Gianforte signs 2 bills to reduce prescription drug costs HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Beginning this fall, all Montana physicians will be able to dispense medications they prescribe to patients, not just those whose offices are at least 10 miles (about 16 kilometers) away from a pharmacy.

Some very good things are happening in the Montana legislature, pertaining to health care. You would not think that you would need a bill such as this in a “free country”, but you do. This law allows patients and doctors to contract directly with each other, and not have it called insurance. In other words, it is a firewall against choices being regulated out of existence.

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2021/04/21/governor-signs-bill-allowing-direct-patient-care-contracts/?fbclid=IwAR3M8_XyGzUm6y5uxpIE2Tk3-MGfqt2IBGq-1zV-HCNwvHdcflS1M8taVm4

Governor Signs Bill Allowing Direct Patient Care Contracts - Flathead Beacon Bill allows health care providers to contract directly with patients for certain basic care, such as annual checkups, office visits, vaccines and stitches

This bill was just passed in Montana! More options for consumers of health care is a very good thing!!

3 Ways SB 101 Could Change Montana Healthcare When signed, SB 101 will be the nation's most expansive authorization of DPC to date, making Montana a leader in affordable healthcare options.

I am listening to Hunter Hastings talking in the Free Market Medical Association (FMMA) webinar. Usually, annual meetings are entirely in person, but not this year, because of COVID-19. They always have great speakers, but this is OUTSTANDING.

We need to remove bureaucratic obstacles to entrepreneurship, because entrepreneurship is the best/only way to “resolve discontent”. Even in hampered markets, entrepreneurs find a way, and if they get it right, consumers patients say YES.

“Mission Noble”. Inspiring!!! kmb

Today is the last day to register for the free online meeting of the Free Market Medical Association, which is tomorrow. I apologize for not posting about this sooner, but members should have been notified by email. You actually do not need to be a member to attend, but you do need to register. For those of us in Montana, it starts at 7:30 AM. It should be very good. I will take notes and pass on some “take homes”.

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/538328998770034443?utm_source=FMMA+Members&utm_campaign=d31b956cbd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_09_08_11_53_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_267d8c5c93-d31b956cbd-135804553

register.gotowebinar.com

I am getting ready to have an imaging procedure, and will be charged 13 times what Medicare pays for the technical component (11 times it, after the 15% discount for payment at the time of the procedure). I am having great difficulty even finding out how much I will be charged for the professional component (radiologist). Where else in our economy does this happen? Answer: nowhere. KMB

The Accad & Koka Report is a long-form (no sound bites!) interview format. They get outstanding guests and ask thought-provoking questions. This particular interview pertains to dialysis and kidney transplants for kidney failure, but more broadly, gives a lot of insight as to why research studies must be questioned, and the opinions of scientists must not be blindly worshipped. Science is a wonderful way of investigating, but it is subject to bias and errors!
https://youtu.be/jNxULLscu0U

Ep. 126 What a Retracted JAMA Paper Tells Us About the Research Enterprise Eric was instrumental in retraction of a recent paper in JAMA. He discusses what lead to the retracted paper, the state of the research enterprise, biases, b...

COVID 19 testing made understandable. https://vimeo.com/406427325

COVID-19 PCR & Antibodies Testing with Dr. Ryan Cole, MD FCAP Dr. Ryan Cole, MD FCAP discusses the need for both COVID-19 PCR & Antibodies Testing. www.CrushTheCurveIdaho.com

True.

https://www.medicaleconomics.com/med-ec-blog/direct-care-practices-perfectly-positioned-help-patients-during-coronavirus-outbreak

Direct care practices perfectly positioned to help patients during coronavirus outbreak Direct primary care physicians are perfectly positioned to handle the coronavirus outbreak.

If you would like a breath of fresh air, in thinking about health care and the role of government, The Accad & Koka Report is the ticket. It provides longform interviews with very interesting people, and thoughtful discussion, not magic answers. Here is one example, and it is free. https://accadandkoka.com/episodes/episode110/

Ep. 110 Health Care, Free Markets, and Viruses | The Accad & Koka Report Our guest is Russ Roberts, host of EconTalk, the award-winning weekly podcast about economics and daily life. Russ is the John and Jean Denault Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He wrote several books, including most recently Gambling with Other People’s Money: H.....

DPC (Direct Primary Care) is an innovation designed to escape the excessive regulation and obscure pricing of third party-paid medical care, and get back to direct doctor-to-patient medicine. ANYONE who thinks they might want or need an alternative to our current medical system, now or later, should (in my opinion) be supportive of “allowing” (not killing with regulations) this option. Personally, my husband and I love it for ourselves.

Congress is just about to harm DPC. Please share this information.

Details: In the Federal government's efforts to help in this COVID-19 pandemic, they have wording in Senate bill 3548 (2020) Section 4403 that is going to hurt DPC by capping their fees and imposing other limitations. They must remove that! It can kill those practices and discourage new ones! The devil is always in the details.

This is an illustration of the old adage, that the scariest words in the English language are, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help”. I called my Senator in D.C. and e-mailed him. Here they are, ramming these bills through (trying to help!), and at least I want to help get the word out on this particular issue (DPC) that they need to not kill innovations and choices for our future.

Feel free to share this post, and to share phone numbers and email addresses of your Senators in D.C. It seems like a little thing amidst this scary time, but government has great power to do harm as well as to help. Time is of the essence. It’s really easy to call and e-mail, if you are inclined to help more. You can leave a voice mail, and here is an example to read, if you like:

“Thank you for working hard to pass a helpful bill amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Please consider removing language in Senate Bill 3548, section 4403, which harms direct primary care, by capping fees and placing limitations on it. Please keep it simple and limit the intrusion! Thanks again”.

Stay well, everyone!
KMB

Companies are getting creative about covering health care costs for employees!

New plan helps Mass. retailer recruit, retain workers Dropping its traditional coverage cut Village Automotive's insurance costs by more than $300,000 while keeping employee contributions flat.

IWF: Surprise, Surprise: $143,396 Bill for a 45-Minute Breast Biopsy The price for the same procedure at a respected surgery center that practices price transparency is less than the patient's out of pocket expenses.

Interesting! Insurance is not the only way to fund expensive medical care.

ICYMI: On this episode of Healthcare Americana, Chris Habig is joined by Sedera Founder and Chairman, Dr. Tony Dale.

Dr. Dale discusses his experience and history with healthshares, why he got involved, and how Sedera, a medical cost sharing community, benefits individuals and employers. In addition, Chris and Dr. Dale discuss the impact that direct primary care has on Sedera members and how Freedom Healthworks's DPC community + Sedera is a win-win. http://bit.ly/2MpUrdf

Free Market Orthopedics and Spine Surgery: Bringing It All Together FMMA / Free Market Medicine / Surgical ProceduresFree Market Orthopedics and Spine Surgery: Bringing It All Together August 22, 2019 - by FMMA Content Share this post 4Those of you who have been following our series have now been presented with extensive information regarding principles of free mark...

This is such a great series of interviews on all things medical. I love this particular interview about choice. Who wants more choice and more price transparency in health care? Who wants more choice in health insurance? I know that I do! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-accad-and-koka-report/id1407511382?i=1000456932557

‎The Accad and Koka Report: Ep. 99 Health Policy Should Focus on Choice on Apple Podcasts ‎Show The Accad and Koka Report, Ep Ep. 99 Health Policy Should Focus on Choice - Nov 15, 2019