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As of February 1, 2006, the State of Illinois, decided
to enter the health field with a brand new rule.
This rule should, once again, help the citizens of Illinois
immensely. Like all the other
rules, we are now considered a “set fee schedule state.”
This is how it works. If
an employee is hurt at work the discipline, or insurance administrator, will
in their infinite wisdom, decide if it is truly an injury that happened at
work. If it was, they will pay
the medical discipline (MDs, DCs, surgeons, hospitals, etc.) a set fee.
If this would happen the patient would not be responsible for the
difference. If the wisdom of
the administrator decides it is not an injury that happened at work, the
patient is responsible for the bill in total.
Now let’s see how this shakes out. It averages a possible 15-18% chiropractic cost reduction.
The best we can probably see medically is a 20-60% reduction.
The idea is to hold workers’ compensation costs down.
I do not mind taking a partial loss if the insurers help industry to
grow and prosper and make it possible for new industries to come in to
benefit our community.
I spoke to three different representatives and bet them
all $100 each that this incredible plan has a very missing element.
Guess what? Speaking
with my accountant and friends in the construction industry and dirt movers
(heavy machine operators), of these groups workers’ compensation costs
them between $1.66 and $12 per hour per employee.
Now these are costs based on importance of exposure and multipliers.
Example – in the carpenter’s union, about $6.40 per hour goes to
insurance and welfare. Now read
this very slowly…As of February 1st, the healing arts took an
average of 20% reduction immediately. Ready…why
is the cost to the employer’s worker’s compensation coverage unchanged;
it did not take a 20% rate drop.
So could the wisdom of our state of health,
Illinois, allow the lobbyist one more financial boost to their industry off
the backs of the citizens of Illinois.
In a couple hundred years from now, when most of history is
rewritten, it would be interesting to look back to a time when harm was
slowly being delivered to us merely for the sake of profit.
Consider re-elections and discuss this with the incumbents. If you elect to wait and have other people do this for you,
your children will have to explain to their children why there is no longer
a middle class. State of
Illinois, state of health, try to find the balance.
Chiropractically
Yours,
Robert
R. Zinser, D.C., C.C.S.P., P.C.
www.zinserchiropractic.com
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