Business Insight presented by Arlington Dermatology What is happening with healthcare? The landscape of our healthcare system has been changing more and more. Only this year brought massive withdrawal of private companies, like Humana, from Medicare Advantage. There are many more. I have been writing for a long time about the fact that Medicare Advantage is not Medicare. It is a substitute created by private insurance companies, who set up plans to offer insurance to seniors in lieu of Medicare and receive the government money to do so. They all imagined that they can actually make a lot of money off the programs, mostly by attracting seniors to drop their regular Medicare plans and enroll in their programs. To encourage that, they promised a lot of 'free' services. Nothing is free these days and seniors soon discovered that. Now, instead of offering those 'free' services, many private companies simply pull out from offering anything. Another trend that affected healthcare, and very much dermatology, was a massive buy-out of independent medical practices. As the quotation below says: "...Private-equity acquisitions of physician groups increased by more than 600% from 2012 to 2021, according to analysis from Health Affairs. Often, when private equity or insurance companies purchase practices, the focus shifts to profits over patient care, Dr. Pollack said. "The focus for these entities is revenue, and if a practice can't be turned around to make more money, they might get cut loose." he said. "Physicians can end up losing their patients and find themselves in worse situations than before..." Doctors are very unhappy in the environment of private investors directing healthcare decisions. It does not happen simply by telling them what to do. No, private equity executives know better. They simply create situations of lack of personnel, lack of proper medical supplies, schedules difficult to cover, multiple locations to attend, and more. All of this has only one goal: profit for investors. If there is not enough profit, one PE sells the 'mega practice' to another PE and the circus starts all over. Hundreds of independent practices went out of business. Hundreds of smaller hospitals, especially rural, closed. People are encouraged to have more children, but maternity wards are closing daily, making young mothers-to-be travel 50-100 miles to get prenatal care and deliver a baby. How does it all make sense? It does not. Due to the focus on financial gain by investors, due to the tremendous push to 'save' money by the insurance industry through denials of services, due to a horrendous complexity of thousands of different plans and administrative burden, there is no owner of our healthcare system. There is no common sense or common denominator on how to manage the system. All private 'owners' pull into their own direction to grab as much as possible and when they do not get enough, they close the shop. There is a lot of conversation about Medicare going bankrupt soon. There is also a lot of talking about fraud by medical professionals. Private equity companies increase their own profits by re-directing many services from private offices to surgical centers, where they can bill additional charges. I could list many more cases of money hungry industry destroying what independent doctors consider their life goals and dedication. And patients suffer. For how long? Michael Bukhalo, MD Arlington Dermatology 5301 Keystone Court Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 Tel. 847 392 5440 | www.arlingtondermatology.net Business Insight presented by Arlington Dermatology What is happening with healthcare ? The landscape of our healthcare system has been changing more and more . Only this year brought massive withdrawal of private companies , like Humana , from Medicare Advantage . There are many more . I have been writing for a long time about the fact that Medicare Advantage is not Medicare . It is a substitute created by private insurance companies , who set up plans to offer insurance to seniors in lieu of Medicare and receive the government money to do so . They all imagined that they can actually make a lot of money off the programs , mostly by attracting seniors to drop their regular Medicare plans and enroll in their programs . To encourage that , they promised a lot of ' free ' services . Nothing is free these days and seniors soon discovered that . Now , instead of offering those ' free ' services , many private companies simply pull out from offering anything . Another trend that affected healthcare , and very much dermatology , was a massive buy - out of independent medical practices . As the quotation below says : " ... Private - equity acquisitions of physician groups increased by more than 600 % from 2012 to 2021 , according to analysis from Health Affairs . Often , when private equity or insurance companies purchase practices , the focus shifts to profits over patient care , Dr. Pollack said . " The focus for these entities is revenue , and if a practice can't be turned around to make more money , they might get cut loose . " he said . " Physicians can end up losing their patients and find themselves in worse situations than before ... " Doctors are very unhappy in the environment of private investors directing healthcare decisions . It does not happen simply by telling them what to do . No , private equity executives know better . They simply create situations of lack of personnel , lack of proper medical supplies , schedules difficult to cover , multiple locations to attend , and more . All of this has only one goal : profit for investors . If there is not enough profit , one PE sells the ' mega practice ' to another PE and the circus starts all over . Hundreds of independent practices went out of business . Hundreds of smaller hospitals , especially rural , closed . People are encouraged to have more children , but maternity wards are closing daily , making young mothers - to - be travel 50-100 miles to get prenatal care and deliver a baby . How does it all make sense ? It does not . Due to the focus on financial gain by investors , due to the tremendous push to ' save ' money by the insurance industry through denials of services , due to a horrendous complexity of thousands of different plans and administrative burden , there is no owner of our healthcare system . There is no common sense or common denominator on how to manage the system . All private ' owners ' pull into their own direction to grab as much as possible and when they do not get enough , they close the shop . There is a lot of conversation about Medicare going bankrupt soon . There is also a lot of talking about fraud by medical professionals . Private equity companies increase their own profits by re - directing many services from private offices to surgical centers , where they can bill additional charges . I could list many more cases of money hungry industry destroying what independent doctors consider their life goals and dedication . And patients suffer . For how long ? Michael Bukhalo , MD Arlington Dermatology 5301 Keystone Court Rolling Meadows , IL 60008 Tel . 847 392 5440 | www.arlingtondermatology.net