WTH? Dean's Doctor-Wife, Refuses to Accept New Medicaid Patients

NYTimes Tuesday.

Anyone know why?

http://www.drudgereport.com/

So I don't care.

Those of us who depend on Medicaid thank you for your caring, concern and compassion.

NOT

Kanary

I just don't care about Dean's wife.

This is illustrative of how that family, who wants to be
our first family, feels about Medicare as a gov't entitlement.

Isn't health care supposed to be Dr Dean's strong suit?
Area of expertise. Possible area of compassion.

The Deans are a paradocs.

:evilgrin:

Claiming that an article says something that it doesn't.

because she's all booked up.

All her patients are scared that Gov. Dean will win because they don't want to lose her as their doctor.

FYI, Dr. Judy even makes House Calls!

She is said to be an EXCELLENT Doctor.

Or maybe she's just taking a jab at the poor in order to get her kicks. Yeah, that must be it.

Wrong forum, no link.

Laugh or just shake my head.

:shrug:


In Wednesday's NY Times, Dean sexual affinity for his daughter.


In Thursday's NY Times, Dean sexual affinity for Paul.

Could be a lot more people are coming to see her because she's married to Howard Dean. Could be, also, that she's turning away not just new Medicaid patients, but other patients, too.

"hard truth is that the medicaid population is very difficult to deal with."

I come to a progressive forum to be treated like crap, right?

Do you have ANY idea how much hurt you cause with your prejudices?

And, spare me your defenses and rationalizations. I can get that from any right winger. Stop and think how you're affecting people whose vote you expect to go to the Dems.

Kanary

and meant to reply to mine.

You are being way to sensitive. Im not treating you in anyway whatsoever, let alone "Crap". If I choose to "treat you", it'll be with respect.

Im simply describing how doctors feel and what their experience has been.

As I said in another message. Im sure that you are a fine person. I don't know why you feel Im attacking you.

Medicaid reimbursement rates are horrid and hard truth is that the medicaid population is very difficult to deal with.

Many doctors are getting tired of working twice as hard for half the money.


(on edit..I just noticed that this is Deans wife (now THAT is shocking)

Yes, they are more difficult. I know nothing about this doc in particular, but the medicaid population is difficult to treat.

More missed appointments. More abuse of medications, patients a far more likely to not follow doctor instructions and when they don't are far more likely to sue the docs.

Then, at the end of the day, the reimbursement rates for medicaid patients are pathetically low.

Thats just the cold hard reality.

My wife is Provider relations rep, and she hears this all the time from docs.

I'm very glad that I have a doctor who is more caring and accepting than you are!!

You are being quite cruel, and I can only hope that it bites you in the butt, and soon.

Kanary

Of course not.

I just described the overall, situation. Says nothing at all about any one individual. Im sure that you a fine outstanding person.

And btw, Im not a doc, but I am telling what doc perceptions are.

This has nothing to do with my opinion, nor your situation.

Stop being so sensitive.

To the point of being heartless?

I wouldn't trust anything I read in the NYT to not be spun the worst way for Dems and the best possible way for Repubs.

It's time to bring Judy Steinberg out the shadows to explain why.

for treatment.

NH is sure poverty friendly. We provide a level of services that would embarass most third world countries.

to shut them out.

http://www.compa-ny.org/aug2001.htm

When I moved here a few doctors wouldn't take my mother-in-law for the same reason. I think they just take a set number of patients or something like that.

the same as Wal-Mart or any other business.

An increasing number of doctors do not accept Medicaid patients simply because it is not profitable.

What's next? "Everyone sells junk bonds!"

everyone supports the School for the Americas.

Before believing what Drudge says...

take Medicaid patients because they pay so little. If she has her practice in an affluent neighborhood, high rent often forces them to do this. I had a friend on Medicaid, who had cancer. She couldn't drive anymore, so I used to drive her around. I often had to drive to a another city to take her to a doctor or dentist, who took Medicaid. Usually doctors just starting out, or not very good ones, take the Medicaid patients.

who see more minority and indigent patient populations.

but I suspect she might be trying to limit her new patient case load in general. I'm sure that with her husband being so much in the spotlight these days, she's already beginning to be asked to do things that are cutting into her pretty busy schedule. She can only do so much in any single 24 hour period. Is someone making a legitimate complaint or is this just more "gotcha" drama and shenanigans.

months ago. Dr. Steinberg is not accepting any new patients, however current patients that move onto medicare stay with her. Nothing to see here. Sorry.

:puke:

About 2 weeks ago it came out he was gonna smear Deans wife...now he's done it, and all of you are responding to a one line blurb without knowing any of the facts...exactly what Drudge wanted you to do.

You'd think you would have learned by now the Drudge is a muck raking a-hole who is only trying to stir up trouble for the Democratic candidates. Apparently some haven't

Wonder why he didn't provide the answer?

How does it feel to wallow in the mud with the Repigs?

Drudge is full of sh*t.

There's not one mention of medicare in the article.

The Other Doctor in Dean's House Shuns Politics

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/politics/campaigns/13JUDY.html

Cuz I couldn't find it either. And I couldn't even find it on Drudge's piece-of-drek page.

WTF???

eileen from OH

from a journalist who believes in doing his work
http://www2.sevendaysvt.com/track/2003/082003track.html
<snip>
When we called back five minutes later, Kathy the receptionist informed us Dr. Judy had left for lunch. She told us that the medical practice at the Creamery is so busy, around 1000 patients, that Judy hasn’t taken on any new patients in years. And, said Kathy, if one of her current patients goes on Medicaid, Dr. Judy sticks with them.
<snip>

not that it will deter the wife-bashers. So now it is ok to dump on Dr. Judy Dean due to a blurb on Drudge? That is sickening.

I feel that family should be off-limits from this type of thing. It's not right.

:hi:

I look forward to more of your posts. It can get a bit rowdy here at times, but I bet you already know that. :)

What about Dean? Did he?

You do not do yourself, or your candidate, any setrvice, by being so totally biased you cannot even concede that this Drudge report is a bunch of bullshit.

And she accepts medicare patients, just not new ones.

My father went practically broke treating the poor of Baltimore. Not excusing his wife but understanding it.

Do you know how difficult the insurance companies have made it for doctors to get reimbursed for their services?

You may walk into the doctor's office thinking you have insurance and the like but trust me, that doctor will have to jump through hoops to prove that had he not treated you, you would have been carried out of his office dead on a stretcher.

Nope, not excusing it and I certainly hope that whoever wins will fix these things because it's an effing disgrace!

Which you and I both know won't happen unless people wise up and put DK, CMB, or Sharpton into office. The JustHealthCare survey shows that.

I am not a Dean supporter but I don't see how posting a Drudge link which bashes Dean's wife (who is NOT running for president, btw) could possibly be productive. At the very least, you should wait for the actual story to come out before jumping to conclusions. It will probably turn out to be nothing anyway.

I don't "get" it; the DUers are supposed to be more savvy than this. It took 28 posts before someone looked up and read the article in The New York Times that Drudge references -- and notices the word "Medicaid" is nowhere to be seen in the article.

"... she skipped Dr. Dean's birthday-party fund-raiser, the family-oriented Renaissance Weekend, even the emotional repatriation ceremony of his brother's remains in Hawaii."

No law says she has to show up for everything ... or anything. Their marriage is none of my business, but I kinda feel sorry for Howard. Not at the repatriation ceremony of his late brother? I would think one would want their spouse there ... not for political, but personal, reasons.

Unfortunately, it's a political reality that a lot of voters want to see a spouse participating in the political spouse's life -- they wanna see what the other half is made of. Her being invisible doesn't do him any favors. I'm just sayin' ... so don't jump all over me. I'm just stating a fact about the American electorate.

I read the whole thing, every damn word, and I am seething with anger now. Why the hell should a busy practicing doctor take time off from her patients, and her children, to travel around with her husband just for show, just because the other "ladies" are doing it. It's preposterous. The whole idea is totally archaic and totally demeaning of women with real careers. I honestly thought that at least the progressive segment of our society had become just slightly more enlightened than that.

I am a doctor and my husband is a business executive and aspiring politician. And if he runs for office I guarantee you I won't be giving up my career, my whole life, for his ambition either. No fucking way! Nor does he want me to.

I am who I am partly because of what I do with my life. And I am good at it. Why should I, or any woman, abandon sick people in need to participate in some ridiculous dog and pony show. I am not about to subvert myself to anyone, not even my husband, because then I am no longer who I am.

I tell you, reading about Dr. Steinberg and her husband's respect for her goals and her needs make me respect both of them so much more.

run for president, just as he previously chose to run for lt. governor, and then governor, and that's left her alone a lot for many years. She may not mind but apparently she did think she was marrying another doctor and they would settle down and practice together. I believe her parents are/were physicians who practiced together so she probably anticipated a life like theirs.

As you said, their marriage is a private matter, not our business, and they may both be happy with things as they are. My point is that you expressed sympathy for Howard because Judy didn't attend some events, and I think Judy deserves sympathy as well, especially as she's the one having to look after their teenage son and their house on her own. Any married woman will tell you that appliances tend to fail, drains stop up, cars die, etc., when husbands are out of town. It's undoubtedly a special corollary to Murphy's Law. And, worse, children whose fathers are away can be very unhappy and difficult, even when they're teenaged children.

Most of the ones I know have housekeepers and nannys.

can tell you that she can get a car or appliance fixed without her husband being present. The presence of a man doesn't magically make drains clog-proof or children happy. I don't get whether the dig was at Dr Steinberg, implying that she is imcompetent and unable to take care of household matters without a man around, or at Dr Dean, for one his teenage son's legal problems of last year. What may be true for one person - being unable to cope with simple domestic occurances - is not true for everyone, or even most, whatever your personal experience may be.

article. Others criticized or defended people on Medicaid or the Medicaid system itself, rather than commenting on Judy Steinberg's practice.

Probably the fact that the initial post said it would be in the TUESDAY Times, coupled with the fact that this is Monday made a lot of people think it wasn't online yet.

OTOH, I agree that people should read a linked article before commenting on it. Reading only headlines and/or excerpts can be misleading.

It is a Drudge hoax.

she only makes about 100k a year on her practice (or 180k minus whatever Dean's salary was in 2002). They have about 4 million dollars in assets. Being a doctor isn't even something she needs to do to make a lot of money.

The doctors are not compensated at the same rate for the same procedures as they would be by private insurers, like BCBS. Too many doctors refuse to treat the poor because it costs them money.

So my question is, did Dr. Dean treat MEDICAID patients when he was practicing? If not, that means that he put profits before people. That's not just cold, that's Republican.

The NYT article says nothing about this topic. It's only Drudge who asserts it in his typical sensationalist fashion. It is NOT a story.

I guess not.

1)Medicare was not in the article, that was drudges spin

2) she hasn't taken new patients in years, he practice is full

3) with his campaign picking up and the election less than a year away it would be irresponsible for her to take new patients.

Anyone know why?
Could it be to distract from talking about Dean's ideas?

because I read this article and didn't see one letter about Medicaid, but to read all the responses I thought it was a fact. Thanks for adding hits to Drudge's site. :eyes:

Just a joke.

The real "story" here is that Drudge is full of shit, as usual.

Surprise, surprise.

Of course it's an archaic notion that a woman has to drop everything and follow the spouse around for photo ops. And I would LOVE to see a separate-career First Spouse; Dr. Steinberg would be a great role model (and send a strong message that couldn't help but make things all the better for ALL of us professional women). And I'm sure the most progressive segment of society HAS become more enlightened than that.

What I'm talking about is ENOUGH of American society to win the election. Because it is VITAL that a Democrat win this year. And, UNFORTUNATELY, it's REALITY that a lot of voters still want to see the candidate with his or her family, if they have one. Image is important ... YES, it's stupid and it sucks that it's that way. But it's reality. Anybody who thinks that enough of the electorate (to win) is going to say, "Oh, cool, she practices medicine and doesn't appear at all on his behalf, and we don't care to know anything about her, and we'll base everything on what Howard says," ... anyone who believes enough of the electorate is gonna be down with that is living in fantasyland. Or maybe just has more faith in the American electorate than I do.

Right now, in this divided country with its horrible problems, and with Howard's image being that of kind of a crusty guy out on his own, and with an electorate who hasn't evolved to the place we'd like to see it evolve to ... all I'm saying is that a HANDFUL of Dean family photo ops couldn't hurt. That's politics. Once he's in the White House, she won't have to worry about all the nonsense, and can concentrate on practicing medicine and rewrite the First Spouse job description for good. It sucks, it's unfair that SHE has to compromise and go out on a photo op to get HIM into the White House, I know. But she may have to just bite the bullet and do it if we're going to get a Democrat into the White House and clean up this Bush mess.

is that of course it's an antiquated idea that Dr. Judy should stand around gazing adoringly at her hubby - BUT she should do it anyhow.

We aren't ever going to change those expectations, unless we start changing those expectations.

Your mixed message is perpetuating the problem, imho.

I can't believe I'm coming to the defense of Dean because I really dislike the man as a candidate. But several points must be cleared up re: doctors and Medicaid.

My husband is a family practice doc. We must pay overhead such as office suite rental, nurses and office staff (plus benefits), supplies, office cleaning, utilities and so on. When most docs finish medical school they are in debt up to their ears...150K is the average education debt. Ours was even higher because we both had undergraduate loans. The average rate for malpractice insurance..which is required to practice is well over 40K per year for family practice and pediatricians. Much much more for other specialties like surgeons.

To get to the point:

Unless a doctor is employed by a "community" type health clinic that is prepared to absorb the loss through subsidies a doctor must limit his/her Medicaid patients. Every Medicaid patient seen is a "loss" or expense to the medical practice. The reimbursements do not nearly begin to cover the overhead or the "cost" of treating the patient. If a doctor did not limit their Medicaid patients they would be out on the street in no time. So it is not an issue of not caring...my husband does and cares for many Medicaid patients but at some point the doctor must say no to anymore if he/she is to be able to support his/her family even modestly.

(I understand the Dean/Steinberg family are multi-millionaires so that may not apply here but for most docs it does)

Drudge LIED; the New York Times article said NOTHING about Medicare or Medicaid.

Dr. Dean stopped some time back taking ANY new patients, as her practice is full.

HOWEVER, if any of her patients go on Medicare or Medicaid, she continues to treat them as she always did.

This is a rotten lie put out there by Drudge.

There is no need to write excuses for the Deans not taking Medicaid patients since they DO take Medicaid patients - and always have taken Medicaid patients.

Just checking.

They typically stop taking patients. Especially when they still do house calls like Dean's wife does.

:eyes:

BULLSHIT POST!

:nuke:

BULLSHIT POST!

:nuke:

the medicaid program is in such shambles that doctors can't keep up anymore. Dealing with medicaid is like five times harder than dealing with any insurance provider, and many doctors can't afford to keep taking new medicaid patients.

Here's the thing, though, and here is why I don't like Matt Drudge or anyone who lowers himself to quoting him:

This is about Judy Dean, but TONS of doctors ALL OVER THE COUNTRY won't take new medicaid patients. Why is no one asking the real question? Why are SO MANY doctors not taking new patients, and how did medicaid get so messed up that it no longer serves the purpose it was designed to?

This is lower than low. I'm very disappointed about this thread.

then you have no problem if she does the same?

Number One: The Deans are Democrats.

Number Two: The Deans do not belong to any country clubs.

Mrs. Dean has expressed the desire to not be involved in politics, and instead focus on her JOB and her practice. I admire that. Why can't we respect that?

you don't think it is an issue?

He wants to "reform" healthcare so that more poor will have access to quality medical care, but his own wife won't accept them as patients.

And this is ok with you?

or is there another source? Because, I didn't see it in the article you posted. If not, the title is misleading to say the least.

Did you happen to miss the flurry of posts on this very thread pointing out to you:

1) Dr. Steinberg is not taking ANY new patients and that she will continue to see her current patients if they transition to Medicare
2) Drudge, in his usual fashion, invented a sensational falsehood out of a NYT article which doesn't even mention Medicare and you, being the fair-minded person you are, chose to take the bait
3) this "Dean's wife is an elitist who pisses on the poor" meme is possibly the dumbest anti-Dean screed yet produced

This sort of crap is beneath contempt! :nuke:

And the fact that so called progressives would accept a flat out lie about a candidate's wife by a right winger just because they don't plan on voting for her husband in the primary is SICK!

I have never been so ashamed.

They aren't asking for our vote. Drudge likes this sort of trash. I don't. Leave the family alone.

There is profanity in the headline. It is also not conducive to discussion.

Thanks,
DU Moderator