The Observation Deck

We have a story in the up-coming Lakewood Observer that states the Cleveland Clinic and their Health Centers will stop taking patients insured through Medical Mutual. CCF made a run at purchasing Medical Mutual a couple years back, and MM refused the offer. That lead to the Cleveland Clinic starting their own health care insurance system, OSCAR Health.

At the same time University Hospital is courting any and all with Medical Mutual, as they have become the principle care givers for those plans.

Speaking with doctors and medical offices in and around the area, they feel this is the end of any and all private practices or small clinics.

How this effects Lakewoodites both at home and the kids in school, I have no idea, but I know that my insurance is through Medical Mutual as is many other people I know.

Stay tuned...

I have been assured CCF will take Medical Mutual, it is that OSCAR will become their preferred insurance plan.

Medical Mutual is the largest carrier in this region.

The recent announcement that ALL University hospital facilities and locations were now open to MM patients would make me wonder about all of this.

I recall about 23 years ago that Med Mutual made an agreement with CCF and we were forced out of a UH practice and told to use CC docs.

This is a strange turnabout, if true.

It would also make the "Family Health Center" unusable to a large number of residents. Imagine that!

Bridget Conant wrote: It would also make the "Family Health Center" unusable to a large number of residents. Imagine that!

Not to mention the high school facility.

We've got Medical Mutual and Metro, and are very happy with both.

This is not good news.

I predict that shortly, the Clinic will announce that its captive insurance company has contracted with all of the regions largest corporations.

This will in turn cause the remaining independent practitioners in the region to consolidate into large group practices to survive---many will retire early.

This will ultimately lead to less choices for patients.

This will ultimately lead to less choices for patients

Of course, this is what it's all about.

This is the "vision of 21st century healthcare" that the rubes on Lakewood council fell for.

This is all very disconcerting but this is Adult talk. Maybe I wasn't clear in my prior posts but I posited the scenarios of a student feeling ill and what happens. Does this student have ANY idea about all this insurance talk is about? The teacher is required to look after the student's immediate needs. But in doing so is that teacher directing the student and by extension the parents into a predetermined marketing choice?
Ms. Gordillo--- let's see some evidence that these real life situations were given a run through.
Stan Austin

Healthcare is changing...

Here's another scenario that might be of interest to the Lakewood Teachers Association and by extension the Ohio Education Association. Given the situation where a teacher has directed an ill student to the CCF infirmary. Is that teacher obligated for clinic charges which may run into hundreds if not a thousand dollars if the student's parents don't have the insurance that CCF accepts?

Stan Austin wrote:Here's another scenario that might be of interest to the Lakewood Teachers Association and by extension the Ohio Education Association. Given the situation where a teacher has directed an ill student to the CCF infirmary. Is that teacher obligated for clinic charges which may run into hundreds if not a thousand dollars if the student's parents don't have the insurance that CCF accepts?

Sheriff Austin,

Check yer birth certificate...I think you think yer on a different thread

Mr. Essi--- I'm just thinking of a regular student (generations don't matter-- wanna get out of a test? claim illness hehe) So the kid goes in for treatment and the uninsured or incorrectly insured parents get a bill for hundreds, maybe a thousand dollars?

This is too delicious!

Guess who the co-owner of Oscar Health, the Clinc's insurance partner is?

Joshua Kushner!

Sound familiar?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Kushner

My family has Medical Mutual through a large corporation here in Cleveland. We have not been notified of any policy changes thus far. I find it hard to believe that CCF would stop taking all Medical Mutual plans. Our plan allows us to use CCF, Metro, and UH. I believe that, if this is true, UH would be pleased to pick up more Medical Mutual plans.

So here we go again - the Observer's main news focus is the ongoing health care debate/lack of transparecy in Lakewood and not crime . . .

We are beating a dead horse here, yet Jim suppresses a story about a child rapist living in Lakewood to protect the Fire Chief.

Amy, why do you care so much about a crime that did not happen in Lakewood, and the person has not been tried yet, and is considered innocent until proven guilty, but you made no comment about a young woman who was brutally raped and shot to death here in Lakewood? This is the crime that Mr. Summers chose to hide from the citizens by calling it suicide instead of homicide.

There are a small group of citizens that have been working their rear ends off investigating the Lakewood Hospital scam, among other crimes here in Lakewood. IT IS A BIG DEAL!
Time will expose it.

Meanwhile, I feel that this subject has been discussed enough and the families should not have to be subjected to harassment by some persons here on the Deck.