They can then shift a number of procedures out of the publicly funded group to the privately funded cosmetic group by attaching the term 'unnecessary' to these elective procedures. He said similar U.S. studies have been done to justify de-insuring services. Before HMOs, hospitals had to provide services to get paid. Now, HMOs, like governments, are prepaid. The more services they provide, the more it costs them.
Patients have to fight to get access to services they ve already paid for.
Dr. Hughes, however, said the study will benefit both doctors and patients. This study will show that a cap on procedures isn't the way to go. It's a study within a study. It'll help identify the problems we face as gatekeepers and will give us more input into the system. It isn't a panacea, but it will help identify the problems and validate what we do.