There is no doubt that health care costs will bankrupt the nation if they continue to grow at the present rate. source: http://www.ssab.gov/documents/TheUnsustainableCostofHealthCare_graphics.pdf
The only question is what measures is the government willing to take to bring them down. I think the Histology Laboratory could lose 50% of our specimens very soon. This is on top of the loss of 88305s to Derm, GI, and Urology POLs that has already occurred in most parts of the country. I really think that if the Independent Payment Advisory Board gets going, a Medicare patient who used to get a $40,000.00 total hip replacement will now be given a cane and some Tylenol. There's another specimen the Histology Lab will not receive. Remember, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was pushed though Congress by Executive fiat, not by passing a vote. I foresee that nationalization of medical schools is not out of the question. On the bright side, it should take care of our chronic shortage of histotechs. ;) Sincerely, Jay A. Lundgren, M.S., HTL (ASCP) _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet