New health care bill..

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What does the new Health Care bill mean for Nurses?

Job wise? Finical Wise? Etc?

With more people gaining access to healthcare wont there be an increased demand for nurses and doctors? Wouldnt this make wages higher not lower?

Just asking, I dont know how all this is going to work out.

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Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.

To cicatrixx15: This is called "passionate discourse". If you are too fragile to deal with it, perhaps a debate thread is not the place for you. No one has screamed. No one has "gotten their panties in a wad", except for you. Again, if you can't handle it, there are many, "safer" threads about scrub colors and traffic stops you could read.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

I think we should all take a chill pill and listen to some Pink Floyd...

[YOUTUBE]

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With more people gaining access to healthcare wont there be an increased demand for nurses and doctors? Wouldnt this make wages higher not lower?

Just asking, I dont know how all this is going to work out.

It would in a free market system (cato institute and walter williams at georgetown university have lots of details on how/why of free market systems). We aren't talking about a free market system. Actually, our currant system is far from a free market system, but the bill makes it much less so.

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To cicatrixx15: This is called "passionate discourse". If you are too fragile to deal with it, perhaps a debate thread is not the place for you. No one has screamed. No one has "gotten their panties in a wad", except for you. Again, if you can't handle it, there are many, "safer" threads about scrub colors and traffic stops you could read.

Hahahahahahaha!! *Sigh.

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Specializes in ICU/ER/TRANSPORT.
With more people gaining access to healthcare wont there be an increased demand for nurses and doctors? Wouldnt this make wages higher not lower?

Just asking, I dont know how all this is going to work out.

I understand the way you are thinking in regards to more patients should equal more healthcare workers. In a ideal situation that would probably be correct. But with the passing of this bill the govt is going to cut some 500billion in financial reimbursements to hospitals,nursing home, clinics and so on. So the hospitals are going to be hurtin from that loss of money. Plus, a large amount of employers that cover insurance premiums fro their workers are just going to switch to the cheaper govt ran insurance. For example my employer uses Blue Cross Blue SHeild and pay $800 a month for my coverage, they are going to drop that and use govt insurance and probabley pay $400 a month. Now, most likley all big corperations will do this, walmart, k-mart, any industry that carries insurance for their employees will switch to the cheaper govt insurance plan in effort to save money. now how that eefects the hospitals is when these people with new govt insurance gets billed for treatment at your hospital, instead of the average payment of around 60% of the hospital bill that was payed by your old insurance now only the govt insurance plan will pay 40%. So for every $ the hospital spends on treating people with govt run care the hospital is only going to recoup around 40 cents back. Now ask any hospital bean counter and they will tell you that is a huge hit financially. So the hospital is going to cut back on things in effort to save money and historically nurses bear the brunt of this. Look for reduced hrs, wages, pay raises, hiring freezes and even lay offs. Sure even support staff will be effected but not as much as nursing. Face it, anytime the hospital losses money the nurses get screwed. And if this stuff takes affect I'm gonna try to pre lubricate with 2% lidocaine jelly cuase its gonna hurt.

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Plus, a large amount of employers that cover insurance premiums fro their workers are just going to switch to the cheaper govt ran insurance. .

Wait..I'm confused. What govt ran insurance...? I know there is still going to medicare/medicaid but as far as I knew there was still going to be private healthcare, just the gov't was going to offer subsidies to those who couldn't afford it.

I could be wrong, just wanted clarifying that's all.

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i'm applying to nursing schools in washington state at this time and i'd like to know your opinion on what the future of nursing will be with this new health care reform bill that was passed today. here are my questions.

1. will there be more jobs available for nurses in the next couple of years?

2. is the nursing profession going to be marketable like how it was 3-5 years ago?

3. are there going to be any lay-offs in the nursing population?

4. how will this new law affect the compensation of nurses, will there be a decline or an increase in wages?

i have some mixed emotions on this new bill that was signed today and since i'm still a student, i'd like to know the direction of health care right now particularly with medical workers, where it's going and how it will be in the next couple of years. if things do not look good in the nursing world, then i might just go into a different medical profession such as medical sonographer or physician assistant.

please let me know what you think. i'm also going to talk to health care instructors, rns and physicians and ask them what they think about this new law. but for now, i just want to know what you readers think about this new law and how it will affect the nursing world.

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Specializes in ICU/ER/TRANSPORT.
Wait..I'm confused. What govt ran insurance...? I know there is still going to medicare/medicaid but as far as I knew there was still going to be private healthcare, just the gov't was going to offer subsidies to those who couldn't afford it.

I could be wrong, just wanted clarifying that's all.

This is how it will playout. Almost everyone who feels thier private insurance is to exspensive will drop it and latch on the govt plan (which basically i'm cool with, heck it will save you a few bucks) Now like i posted before even many employers will drop the exspensive insurances they are helping to pay for adn sign on for the govt plan for their employees. Now the effect this will have on private insurance companies is many of their customers are leaving by the groves, so in a effort to not go bank rupt they will raise the rates on the few costomers that stay with them, how high? I dont know, some reading shows 30% to as high as 50% increase. Almost the same response as the hurricane insurances after katrina hit, the premiums just went throught the roof. I just think alot of the insurance companies will probabley fold and only offer v.i.p insurance to the wealthy or really wealthy corporations like microsoft and pro ball teams and such, not to hosptials and the middle class.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.
Wait..I'm confused. What govt ran insurance...? I know there is still going to medicare/medicaid but as far as I knew there was still going to be private healthcare, just the gov't was going to offer subsidies to those who couldn't afford it.

I could be wrong, just wanted clarifying that's all.

At this time private insurance is still an option. Eventually private insurance will be a thing of the past and will be replaced by a government run plan. At this time, insurance companys can deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, and place a cap on pay outs. Taking these two options away, will eventually bankrupt the private companies. We are for the most part a very unhealthy society. I'm not saying I think it's right to deny coverage, just saying it's what makes private insurance possible. Once there is no longer private health insurance, a government plan will be implemented. Like most of us here, I am confused about what's going to happen. I heard this on TV and it made sense to me. The public option that Dems wanted, but didn't get will happen. Just not as fast as they wanted.

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I am very nervous about this. My husband is no longer working and I work a full time job and two part time jobs to support our family already. I don't know what will happen if something happens to my wages. There are not enough hours in the day to work a fourth job.

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I can not see this working out for the best. Too many holes in the bill.

~ Sam

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