Features
Fact: The government is exponentially expanding the size and enrollment of the Medicaid and Medicare systems.
Fact: To help alleviate the management burden of these growing services the government continues to outsource responsibilities to national and regionally-based brokers such as Logisticare, MTM, Access2Care, First Transit, and many, many more.
Fact: Brokers are managing an ever increasing percentage of the Medicaid, Medicare, and Workers Comp markets which is providing them with RECORD BREAKING profits.
Fact: While brokers are achieving record breaking profits, transportation and home care providers – those actually providing services - are receiving a grossly disproportionate amount of what the government actually pays for such services.
In some instances, less than 25% of government allocated funds actually reach providers – meaning brokers, the middle-man managers, keep in excess of 75% of government reimbursements
Fact: Despite keeping the lion’s share of government allocated funds, brokers do not provide actual service to customers or own assets. Rather, brokers rely exclusively on independent providers
The irony is that while brokers haggle and squeeze profit margin out of providerstheir very existence is dependent exclusively on providers. Without hardworking providers, brokers are out of business
So how exactly do brokers actually achieve record-breaking profits and maintain such a disproportionate amount of government reimbursement when they actually provide no service?
How do brokers remain so empowered and embolden - even manipulating providers, while at the same time relying exclusively on providers?
The answer is actually very calculated, yet simple. According to a formerexecutive of a national broker, “Brokers rely on the fragmentation and lack of communication between providers”
This former executive further reveals how “Brokers manipulate the competitive nature of independent providers” - knowing that “Providers will not share information with other providers because they can be competitors”
Essentially, as this former executive illustrates, brokers rely on and use the age old principle of manipulation which is to keep people “separate, ignorant, and unequal” – and this is exactly what brokers do with providers
Evidence of the successful implementation of this separate and unequal strategy is how brokers pay different rates of reimbursement to providers offering similar services in the same region
Did you know that some providers are literally making half the amount in reimbursement as compared to other providers offering the same service in the same service area?
For example, in Florida, where several national brokers such as Logisticare and MTM are thriving, making more money with the expansion of Obamacare, one provider is currently making almost $40 per one-way wheelchair plus $2.50 per mile for a minimum of 7 miles.
In the same county, another provider contracted with the same broker is receiving only $22.50 plus $1.55 per mile for transports of equal distance. That is a difference of 55 percent!
This broker also pays deadhead miles of $1.35 per mile after 20 miles to some providers but not to others
How is this possible? Because providers don’t know what brokers are paying other providers and, therefore, don’t know how and what prices to negotiate
Again, to the detriment of the providers, this is a classic example of brokers successfullyusing the strategy of keeping providers “separate, ignorant, and unequal”
The motivation for this sneaky littler broker strategy is simple - offering the least amount of reimbursement as possible boosts broker profit margins
Brokers keep more money while providers make less. After all, brokersarein the business of making money and, ironically enough, the business of brokeringis a very profitable industry
If you are in the transportation or home care industry and you offer services to Medicaid, Medicare, or Workers Comp, chances are very good you have or will one day serve as a subcontractor to a broker
As a provider, it is your responsibility to be as profitable as possible and to negotiate the best possible rates of reimbursement
Brokers are definitely not going to volunteer an increase in rates nor help you negotiate. They are not going to disclose what they are payingvarious other providers in your region
If you already have experience, you know brokersalways insist they don’t negotiate. But evidence and history provesbrokers negotiate all the time – especially when they need you
Some important questions include where do you start your negotiations when applying or renewing a broker contract?
Consider, how much would knowing what brokers are paying other providers in your specific area help your negotiations?
Again, brokers are not going to offer any financial favors. By not knowing your regionally-based rates, brokers are able to low-ball unsuspecting providersall the time. As a result, providers are essentially negotiating in the dark
In Georgia, where a handful ofnational brokers manage the Medicaid system, one broker was successful in reimbursing some naïve providers ONLY $6 for ambulatory pickups plus $1.25 per mile while paying other providers in the same region more than $17 plus $2.50 per mile for the same transport
It would be easy to blame brokers for being such unscrupulous tactics. But you can’t. Like providers, brokers are in business to make money
To the contrary, the responsibly of understanding how brokers operate, negotiating profitable rates of reimbursement, and ensuring profitability is exclusively the responsibility of providers
Brokers will do whatever providers allow them to do. As the former broker executive explained, brokers know that cooperating providers threatens broker profitability. Hence, the reason brokers must keep providers “separate, ignorant, and unequal”
A broker that can pawn off a $6 transportto naïve and unsuspecting providers is going to pawn as many $6 transports as possible because such transports yields 3 – 4 times as much in profit to the broker
Surprisingly, brokers are actually very predictable. They do as much as providers collectively allow them to do and take as much as providers allow them take
So as provider, what can you do to empower your business, increase your rates of reimbursement, and maximize your profit earning potential?
Fundamentally, you need to negotiate better rates of reimbursement! In starting, you need to determine what brokers are paying other providers in your area
Think of how empowered and enhanced your negotiating position when you know what other providers are being paid by the same brokers in the same region.
Do you really think brokers want you to know what they’re paying other providers? Do you really think brokers want you to see the disparaging rates of reimbursement between providers? Of course not!
By learning what other providers are receiving in reimbursement further exposes the manipulative practices of brokers while underscoring the disproportionate amount of government funds they keep versus passing onto provider
The good news is that MedicaidBroker.com is exposing brokers and their disproportionate rates of reimbursement county by county all across the country
Further, providers are able to share insight into their experiences with specific brokers to help expose broker corruption and empower providers
With MedicaidBroker.com, providers post their rates of reimbursement, share details of their broker experiences, and view rates of reimbursement from other providers in selected counties
Providers can choose to keep their contact information anonymous and private or to make it public. By making their contact information public, provider can receive direct correspondence from other providers
Is it a coincidence that brokers despise MedicaidBroker.com? Of course not – it is a threat to their tactics and profitability
Again, brokers need providers to remain “separate, ignorant, and unequal.” But with MedicaidBroker.com, providers are able to increase awareness and dramatically enhance their negotiating power
There is nothing complicated or difficult about MedicaidBroker.com. In fact, our functionality is as simple as our mission – empower and protect our providers by sharing critical information and enhancing profit earning potential
With the expansion of Obamacare, broker’s profit margins are exponentially multiplying – and they don’t even provide service to the customer!
Now, it’s time for providers to experience the same level of profitability and claim a larger portion of government allocated funding
MedicaidBroker.com is a community web-service that requires your participation. Join today to share your experiences and rates of reimbursement and to view other rates of reimbursement in your county
If you don’t protect and actively negotiate the best possible rates of reimbursement for your business no one will do it for you
Join MedicaidBroker.com today and begin to transform your business and increase your profit earning potential