From: dannyb@panix.com   
      
   In  "Adam H. Kerman"  writes:   
      
   [snip]   
   >Just days before the assasination, another health insurance provider   
   >said they would use a standard model of how much anaestheia to give a   
   >patient in surgery, then disallow continuing anaesthesia if surgery   
   >takes longer.   
      
   >Of course, there's no such standard model.   
      
   umm, for better or worse there is.  Just like, say, the   
   "Chilton's Manual"s used to have standardized "hours" for   
   just about every car related repair, which many shops   
   preferred to refer to (as opposed to actual clock hours),   
   the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (Helaht and Human   
   Services) has a standardized chart, and rate sheet, for   
   medical procedures.   
      
   So the Chiltons might say "four tyre swap, 30 minutes",   
   and the shop would tell you "$125/hour, so $65"   
   the CMS card would have "surgical expense   
   for tonsillectomy [no time listed in the public   
   copy ...], $2,750".   
      
   While most medical procedures and the associated professionals   
   were on that CMS rate chart - which was basically "me-too'ed"   
   by private insurers (with their own dollar modifier), the   
   ANesthesia groups managed to maintain their own identity   
   and exclusivity.  Until, well, almost... now.   
      
   Yes, one can definitely curse the bigger picture, but why   
   should this one medical profession be treated differently   
   than all the others/   
      
   --   
   _____________________________________________________   
   Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key   
   		     dannyb@panix.com   
   [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)