Robbie Rockets

Just a guy looking for truth against tyranny.

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@RepSchneider Healthcare cost have skyrocketed because you and the rest of Washington DC are bought and paid for insurance companies. Yet you all blame each other

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@mmdd2006 @DrDiGiorgio @CPopeHC Well when you’re bought and paid for by the insurance companies of course you do. Pallone has received at least 350K in donations from the insurance companies. Who do you think he’s advocating for then

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@CPopeHC @DrDiGiorgio When you buy a car you have to pay for it before they let you take it home. If you want to compare surgery to buying a car then the same rules should apply.

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

So either doctors (don’t call us fucking providers you piece of shit) accept bullshit low rates or don’t get paid? Is that what you’re advocating? What is it that you do to benefit society? And I bet you earn more than most physicians doing nothing but leaching off the rest of us.

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

If you can cap what private physicians earn then it’s only fair that we cap you can earn as well. Pallone’s bill has nothing to do with lowering costs and you know this to be true. He has received at 350K in donations from the insurance companies to push this through. This bill which is frankly insulting to physicians will kill private practice. Just hope there is someone to take care of your family when you need it most

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

As a private practice surgeon I feel uniquely qualified to respond. Network matching is nothing more than a fancy term to force unwilling doctors to accept in network rate set by the insurers or not get paid at all. In your article you present it basically says doctor would be required to contract with all the plans that the in network facility accepts. How is this a legitimate proposal? I would love to hear your response. And if we’re going to go down this road then why is it only doctors that have to be forced into income caps? If this is the playbook then every profession should be subjected to the same. Lawyers, CEO’s of every single company, athletes etc. of course this idea is ridiculous the same as your idea. Let’s put things in perspective for you shall I…

In today’s current world 20 yr old college atheletes are making 3-5x more money per year playing a game then than I am, a mid 40’s surgeon who spent 15 years in training after high school (at a cost of 250K dollars) and 15 years in private surgical practice performing 500 surgeries a year, taking call every third weekend saving countless number of lives in the process. I have been in surgery on every major holiday, missed countless family events and my kids birthdays. And your telling me that what I do for a living is worth pennies on the dollar compared to a kid in college catching a ball? Your priorities are so fucked up you don’t even belong in the conversation

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@DrOzCMS 🖕🏼

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@LorenAdler @JahangirAsgha10 This is more of the same crap. Force doctors to accept reimbursement that is financially detrimental to private practice functioning.

[Adam Bruggeman, MD @DrBruggeman]

Follow up from today’s post

I looked into the group whose video ad is running in the Root post, and what I found is concerning.

The ad is titled "EXPOSED: Double Billing." Its disclaimer reads "Paid for by Patients for Safe and Affordable Health Insurance."

It is a limited liability company. The only place its legal name appears is the website's privacy policy. There is no named executive director, no board, no staff, no spokesperson, and no press release.

Its listed address is 712 H Street NE, Suite 1403, in Washington, DC. That address belongs to a FedEx and UPS shipping store. "Suite 1403" is a mailbox.

Its website launched in January 2025. The files behind it are hosted on a WordPress network that also hosts campaign pages for Republican candidates. Most of its pages were written by an account called "Web Ops," not by anyone at the group. This isn't a patient organization that hired a web designer. It's a political vendor's product with a patient-sounding name on the front.
In 18 months, its campaigns have covered oncology drug vials, out-of-network doctors, upcoding, hospital facility fees, a state-specific attack on a hospital system in Indiana, and now modifier 25. Every single one targets a doctor or a hospital. Not one targets an insurer. Not one mentions prior authorization, claim denials, or the profits of the companies that sit between patients and their care.

Look at who it lets speak. Its "facts" page cites AHIP, the insurance industry's trade association. Its billing campaign is built on a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association report. Its surprise-billing pages repeat the insurer line that arbitration costs too much and doctors win too often. The op-eds it promotes are written by a former Florida Blue executive, a former chief medical officer of Regence Blue Cross, and a former chief medical officer of AmeriHealth Caritas. Not one practicing physician. Not one patient.

A group that says it speaks for patients, has no patients, no leaders, and no address, and only ever points in one direction is suspicious at best.

Notice the timing. The comment period closed September 14. More than 150 medical organizations told CMS to withdraw this proposal. CMS tried the same cut in 2019 and pulled it. The final rule is due within weeks. Nine influencers and a video ad showed up in exactly that window, with the same talking points, thanking the administration for a rule it hasn't finalized yet. That is a pressure campaign not a public awareness campaign.

Why would an insurer care about a Medicare rule? Commercial plans already fight physicians over modifier 25 claims. Physicians push back because Medicare, the benchmark, pays in full. If CMS cuts it, every commercial contract in the country follows, and the cut stops being something a doctor can appeal. The savings won’t ever go to seniors. They will go to the plans and their shareholders.

Who funds this and why are we hearing from a mailbox instead of a person?

If you want to argue that Medicare should pay less for same-day services, make that argument. Put your name on it. Publish your data. Tell us who you work for. Defend it in the comment period and in the open.

What you shouldn't do is fund a video from a mailbox, pay nine accounts to run the same script, and call it a grassroots movement.

Patients do deserve transparency. That starts with knowing who is talking to them.

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

It’s super cute that you actually believe this will lower premium and reduce cost. Clearly you have no actual real life experience in the healthcare industry. Well let me try and educate you. I’m a private practice surgeon (in-network) for the past 16 years. The reason doctors are OON is because insurance companies refuse to negotiate reasonable reimbursement for private docs like myself because they have no need to do so. The only leverage we have is the OON. But once the feds passed NSA the only leverage now is the IDR process. The reason why 85% victory on the side of physicians is occurring is because the insurance companies routinely offer zero or a dollar for services provided. I don’t know what you get paid, but performing in extremely complicated operation on an extremely sick individual definitely deserves more than a dollar. and the mediators happen to agree. Frankly, $1200 for a bilateral mastectomy for cancer is insulting. Now are some of the awards extreme? Absolutely. But they are few and far between, but the only ones gaining headlines because the insurance companies have decided to fight their case in the court of public opinion they conveniently leave out the fact that the insurance companies will offer a dollar for that same service. Furthermore, 48% of claims one have not been paid by the insurance company and probably won’t be. Is Bill essentially forces all doctors in network and takes away any leverage that they had, which I guarantee will end up with even lower reimbursements for physicians and higher bonuses for the CEOs. It will definitely kill the private practice model, which I think is probably the goal. and the bills being written by an individual who’s received close to $350,000 in campaign contributions from the insurance companies. This bill puts all the power into the insurance companies hands, which would obviously be the case considering the amount of money he has received the reason why healthcare is so expensive is not due to physician salaries. is due to the ever-increasing administration of hospitals and insurance companies and bureaucracy in DC.. the only people getting screwed are the physicians and the patients. Your support of this bill for the reasons you state are frankly disingenuous. The IRD system is working well. The only people that are complaining are the insurance companies. And even if all doctors were in network, you’re a fool to believe that insurance premiums and costs will go down

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

None of what you claim based in any sort of reality. Pallance is bought and paid for by insurance companies which is why he’s introducing this bill. The reason why doctors are OON is because the insurance companies refuse to negotiate acceptable rates with doctors. This bill essentially forces every doctor to just accept in-network reimbursements which no doubt will continue to decrease now that insurance companies are in total control. The only leverage doctors have currently is the OON and IDR route. Once that’s gone so is the independent private practice doctors which i guess is the entire point.

In the current IDR system once the decision is made the insurance company is supposed to pay within 30 days. however 48% of the cases won by doctors go completely unpaid without any penalties to the insurance company. IDR is not the reason for higher premiums please stop with this disingenuous claim. And even if every doctor was in network, the patients will never see their premiums decrease. You know this, I know this, everyone knows this so you can stop lying to us. We’re not as stupid as you think we are.

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

How many millions of dollars have the insurance companies bribed you with to get you to come up with crap? It’s amazing how you can spew lies and still sleep at night. Premiums are not being driven up by the IDR arbitration process. That’s what the insurance companies claim but it’s wholly untrue. 50% of the IDR claims won by physicians go unpaid by the insurance companies even though they are required to pay the decision. Forcing OON doctors to accept in network rates from the insurance companies is so unbelievably backwards. The reason they are OON is because the in network rates are criminally low in the 1st place you fucking retard. You essentially give alll rhe leverage to the insurance companies and tell physicians tough shit.

[John Asghar @JahangirAsgha10]

CMS and the insurance companies are lying to you…. Let me simplify this….
It’s the insurance companies own actions that are driving up costs.

The No Surprises Act protects patients from unexpected out-of-network bills for emergency care and certain services at in-network facilities. Patients generally pay only their in-network cost sharing. Payment disputes remain between physicians and insurers.

Physicians may be out of network because insurers offer inadequate rates or refuse to include them in their networks. Without a contract, there is no agreed payment rate.

If negotiations fail after 30 business days, either side can use independent dispute resolution, or IDR. An arbitrator selects one party’s payment offer for care already provided. Initial payments can be zero, and physician organizations report that insurers sometimes submit offers of $1 or less. Their September 2026 analysis found that insurers defaulted on 24.5% of disputed service lines in 2025 and offered $1 or less on another 8.2%.

When insurers refuse to negotiate reasonable rates, practices are forced into arbitration. Providers won approximately 85% of federal IDR determinations in the second half of 2025, including default decisions.

Even winning does not guarantee payment. An emergency medicine association survey covering roughly 660,000 IDR claims won in 2025 found that 48% were not paid within the required 30 days.

IDR is supposed to discourage insurers from refusing to negotiate and encourage reasonable agreements before arbitration. When insurers fail to participate or pay awards on time, practices incur additional collection costs. Removing those consequences would give insurers less incentive to negotiate and could create more disputes and opportunities for abuse by both sides.

Insurers blame IDR costs for rising premiums. But people who pay for out-of-network benefits are already paying for that coverage, and NSA protections also apply to plans without routine out-of-network benefits.

Insurers’ refusal to negotiate, failure to participate, and failure to pay awards can create avoidable disputes and administrative costs. Those costs should not be blamed on IDR without acknowledging the insurer conduct that drives them.

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@sangerkatz @CBSNews This will literally destroy every private practice doctor out there. Good luck finding a physician to listen to all your excuses and delusions about why you are unhealthy.

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@JohnAzzaritiNJ @sangerkatz @CBSNews Yeah but they didn’t donate to his campaign so he doesn’t give a shit about the doctors

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@matthewstoller Good??? Clearly you don’t know shit about the topic. Good luck finding a competent doctor when you need it most dipshit.

[Nick Lease @Benefitsguynick]

It’s been awhile so here’s your reminder.

Doctors are not the reason for a dysfunctional healthcare system.

They are just as much a victim to a system built by bureaucrats as you and me.

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

Sounds like the talking points of someone who has been paid millions but the altruistic insurance companies. Force independent doctors into in-network rates set by the insurance companies. You sir are a fucking dipshit. Go fuck yourself. Good luck finding a doctor to take care of you.

Sincerely,
Private Practice Physicians

[Himura 🌎 @aceddeca1]

Physician mood on X this morning …

[Robbie Rockets @RocketsRobbie]

@FFT1776 @DrOzCMS @CMSGov How much did you get paid to tout this utter bullshit