Jane Orient MD

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MedCity Influencers

Washington has it backward on defunding Obamacare

Defunding ObamaCare does not really require an active decision by the U.S. House of Representatives. It is the default option—as in what happens if you don’t do something. Constitutionally, the people’s House holds the government’s purse strings. It does not need to pass a law requiring an agency to stop spending money. It can simply […]

Hospitals

The IRS has the power — and the will — to ration healthcare

As Americans watch congressional hearings on the Internal Revenue Service, they should ask themselves what this enormously powerful, corrupt, politically motivated agency might do with its new job of administering ObamaCare. We have heard testimony from those whose tax exemption was delayed or denied, or who underwent abusive audits, or faced seizure of their accumulated […]

MedCity Influencers

Is a charting error a federal crime?

As cardiovascular surgeon John Natale, M.D., sits in federal prison, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago heard his appeal on April 18. After a seven-year investigation, Dr. Natale was indicted for Medicare fraud. Unlike the majority of federal defendants, who feel compelled to cave in by signing a plea bargain even when innocent, […]

MedCity Influencers

Medicaid expansion: Deja vu all over again

Republican governors are following the script of Obama and Clinton in their campaign strategy for the Medicaid expansion that is needed to implement ObamaCare: The cast of earnest white coats and tearful upstanding, hard-working patients with hard-luck stories. The statements sound as though they were written by the same PR firm. The same dire consequences […]