“…will create deaths. This will kill people. People will die because of this.” : ObamaCare ACA death spiral, May 2018

Incomplete (tip-o-the-iceberg) list of healthcare related layoffs, shutdowns and crimes in May 2018:

Kaiser Family Foundation: 22% increase in healthcare costs

Bloomberg: Even doctors are canceling their health insurance

The Harris Poll: 66% of people say insurance cost is a major source of stress in their lives (gee, wasn’t ObamaCare supposed to remedy that?)

eHealth: 74% of people consider ObamaCare-ACA insurance rates unfair

Law360:  Humana Fights To Keep $45-billion tax dollar funded  Tricare Deal secret

VOX: Humana hits patient with surprise bill even though his surgery was ‘in-network’  (the hospital was in-network, but not the doctors)

NTT Data: Medicare Advantage online enrollment process is confusing 

Health Affairs: 86% of doctors suspicious of genetic test results, concern over insurance discrimination

Arizona: Banner Health reports a 55% crash in net income for its first quarter of 2018 due to increased operating costs.

California: A now former fraud investigator for insurance company Anthem facing charges of fraud himself, accused of helping two San Fernando Valley plastic surgery clinics falsify about $20-million USD in claims.  IDEX Health & Science issued a shutdown WARN for its Carlsbad ops, 58 jobs gone by the end of July. Concentra suddenly killed 180 jobs in Valencia!   Molina Healthcare eliminating 93 jobs in Sacramento and Los Angeles by July.  In Paradise, SunBridge Paradise Rehabilitation Center eliminating 78 jobs by July.

Colorado: Penrose-Saint Francis Health Services suddenly laid off 42 people, including a CAO, in an attempt “to increase efficiency of operations”.

Connecticut: UnitedHealth and AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) being sued in federal court for allegedly diverting $400-million USD per year in Medigap rebates in violation of state law.  Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics eliminating 198 jobs in Brookfield by September!  Homecare provider Maplewood at Home issued a shutdown WARN for its Danbury ops, 115 jobs gone by mid-July!

Delaware: In May, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield revealed to state regulators that back in March it sent 507 customers the wrong benefits information.

Florida: A now former CEO of Calhoun Liberty Hospital charged with stealing $1-million USD from the hospital.  Baptist Health South Florida eliminating 588 jobs by the end of July!

Georgia: Schizophrenic HCA Healthcare controlled Memorial Healthcare suddenly laid off 85 people but then said it would be hiring 2-hundred.  Atlanta based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the number of people without health insurance increased in 2017, compared to 2016, however it decreased when compared to 2014. Bottom line is that ObamaCare-ACA didn’t significantly reduce the number of people without health insurance (yet it’s costing people more money).

More proof ObamaCare-ACA is a total failure; U.S. Department of Defense deployed hundreds of personnel under Operation Empower Health- Greater Savannah, which provided free (taxpayer funded) healthcare to people and their pets!!!

Illinois: State inspectors discovered that Cook County’s taxpayer funded Health and Hospitals System lost at least $165-million in revenue due to billing errors, over the past three years!  Siemens Medical Solutions Advanced Therapies Division issued a shutdown WARN for its Hoffman Estates ops, 104 jobs gone by March 2019!  After 20 years non-profit nursing home River to River shutting down due to lack of money, which is caused by lack of patients (occupancy rate only 51%).

Indiana: Medical device maker DJO Global issued a shutdown WARN for its Plainfield location, 70 jobs gone by October.

Iowa: Mercy Medical Center issued a layoff WARN, 43 jobs gone by July.  University of Iowa Health Ventures issued a layoff WARN, 190 jobs gone by the end of June!

Kansas:  The CFO of Shawnee Mission Health accused of  being part of the now settled 20 hospital kick-back fraud by god’s own Adventists Health.

Maryland: ObamaCare-ACA insurance companies demanding a 30% increase in premiums in 2019.  Two now former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials found guilty of helping a New York investment company get inside information on taxpayer funded operations. 

Michigan: Sparrow Carson Hospital halted inpatient obstetrics, resulting in an undisclosed number of layoffs, blaming it on the increasing number of people who don’t want to get pregnant (population death spiral).

Minnesota: Eastern European hackers took control of the computer records of Associates in Psychiatry and Psychology, which agreed to pay a ransom of just under $4-thousand worth of Bitcoin to free-up their computers.  MedTronic eliminating 30 jobs in Saint Paul by the end of June.

Missouri: Local politician owned pharmacy chain (20 stores) Family Pharmacy now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and selling its assets to Smith Drug Company.  Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center shutting down, 259 jobs gone by the end of June due to ObamaCare-ACA forcing the hospital to focus on outpatient care only!  Politicians are calling for an investigation into Hospital Partners-Putnam County Memorial Hospital after a state audit discovered that the small 15 bed hospital was paid $92-million USD for lab work that was actually done at other hospitals!

New Jersey:  According to the 2017 New Jersey Health & Well-Being Poll, one in seven New Jersey adults get a surprise medical bill.   The University Medical Center charged a woman $5,751 for an ice pack, even though she refused treatment when she found out the hospital was not ‘in-network’.

New York: ‘Over the counter’ lotion maker Geritrex issued a shutdown WARN, 26 jobs gone by the end of June.  Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation issued a shutdown WARN for its Brooklyn-NYC ops, 305 jobs threatened because the company sold-out to a competitor!   Nassau Health Care-Nassau University Medical Center owes the New York State Health Insurance Program $62.6-million USD in insurance premiums for its own employees!    NYC Health + Hospitals accuses UnitedHealthcare of wrongfully rejecting insurance claims of $11.5-million, from 2014 to 2017: “For too long, NYC Health + Hospitals has been leaving money on the table and subsidizing private insurance companies by letting denials slide.”-Mitchell Katz, CEO NYC Health + Hospitals

North Carolina: A now former finance director for High Point Regional Hospital sentenced to eight and-a-half years in prison for stealing $3.9-million USD from the hospital.

Ohio: Salem Regional Medical Center eliminated 26 jobs, one week after shutting down its maternity ward.  IBM controlled Watson Health suddenly laid off at least 40 people in Cleveland, a now former employee posted online “….to close the shop, will happen in early 2019. … This round of cuts is much bigger than anyone is reporting, they cutting deep and wide, there is no recovery from this one…”  Toledo based ProMedica reported a $2.7-million USD operating loss for its first quarter of 2018, due to increased operating costs.

Oklahoma: BlueCross BlueShield charged a retired doctor, who underwent foot surgery,  $619 for a saw blade, $4,265 for a drill bit and $15,076 for three screws used in the surgery!

Oregon: CNN reports UnitedHealthcare denied a dying mother’s liver transplant.

Pennsylvania:  MedTronic issued a shutdown WARN for its Bala Cynwyd location, 76 jobs gone. 

Rhode Island: Blue Cross Blue Shield facing federal level antitrust lawsuit which accuses the insurance company of “purposely” stopping the sale of financially troubled Landmark Medical Center over insurance reimbursement rates.

Tennessee: A Rite Aid Pharmacy in Springfield shutting down mid-June, as a result of Rite Aid being taken over by Walgreens (there’s a Walgreens across the street from the Rite Aid).  Envision Healthcare straight-up blamed insurance companies and the government (ObamaCare-ACA) for screwing with patient’s healthcare coverage, saying “We strongly believe payers, regulators and providers must work collaboratively. We object to many of the current payer tactics that fuel conflict and adversely impact the unique relationship between patient and physician.”

Texas: Doctors in The Lone Star State saying Blue Cross Blue Shield’s new insurance policy “…will create deaths. This will kill people. People will die because of this.”    Acuity Healthcare shutting down its ten years old San Antonio Acuity Hospital mid-July, due to declining revenue and industry changes.  Also in San Antonio, Illinois based medical supply company Arjo eliminating 54 jobs in June due to “a global decision”.  A Texas doctor facing federal charges of intentionally misdiagnosing patients with cancer as part of a $240-million USD fraud to provide the doctor and his co-conspirators with a “lavish and opulent lifestyle”,  many people were subjected to toxic cancer treatments when they didn’t have cancer!  Another Texas man was convicted of impersonating electronic health records company Cerner, causing several victims to lose millions of dollars, another man pled guilty.   Three former executives of now bankrupt busted billing company Constellation Healthcare Technologies face charges of falsifying bank records to make the company appear to be worth more than $300-million USD.  Memorial Hermann Health System paying a $19-million fine for filing false Medicare claims.  In Webster, after only four years of operations Bay Area Regional Medical Center suddenly went bankrupt busted and shutdown, 9-hundred jobs suddenly gone (Bay Area Regional also unable to make final paychecks and is ‘working’ with creditors to attempt to pay the now former employees)!  Several now former employees have filed a class action lawsuit against the short-lived defunct hospital. Insurance companies Cigna and Aetna claim the hospital owes them $43-million USD, however Bay Area Regional Medical Center blames lack of ObamaCare-ACA insurance reimbursements for their demise: “When it came to negotiations with our managed care contracts we were unable to come to an agreement, a favorable agreement and due to overhead, we couldn’t survive.”-Santiago Mendoza

Wisconsin: Medical equipment renter Degen-Berglund issued a layoff WARN for La Crosse, 30 jobs gone in July.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

ObamaCare (ACA) death spiral April 2018: “NEW NORMAL”