Evil Health Insurance Companies... - Page 3

sue_trask · 02-20-2008, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hezzer

What I think is not based on Michael Moore. Honestly, I don't care for him much. I take what he says and does with a grain of salt.

I will say that the movie "Sicko" in particular certainly reinforced my views. I recommend everybody see it. I don't believe he had any agenda in making it, other than to try and make Americans see what is greatly lacking in their lives that is freely enjoyed by others in other countries.

im not basing it on that but i know ppl who had to wait a long time for doctors in other countries due to unv healthcare.

he has known to have a agenda in every film he does and not just in this. i mean he twisted things around like guns and 9/11 to fit his views on it.

Hezzer · 02-20-2008, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sue_trask

im not basing it on that but i know ppl who had to wait a long time for doctors in other countries due to unv healthcare.

he has known to have a agenda in every film he does and not just in this. i mean he twisted things around like guns and 9/11 to fit his views on it.

Obviously universal healthcare isn't the same in every country. I'm referring to countries like Canada, France, and England. There are criticisms of the healthcare in those countries as well, no doubt. It’s only to be expected. Imperfect people mean imperfect systems. By and large I would say their healthcare system of those countries far surpasses ours, though.

As far as Michael More, I’ve seen his other movies and know he can sometimes spin things to appear as he wants them to. Like I said . . . everything with a grain of salt.

Whether you agree with or believe what he says or not, it is always true that his movies are very thought-provoking. I was glad to have seen “Bowling for Columbine”. “Fahrenheit 9/11” I was far more suspicious of.

In relation to this specific movie “Sicko”, it’s only fair to see it first before dismissing the legitimacy of what is in it.

sue_trask · 02-20-2008, 04:04 PM

i was taking about some bad stories in england and canada. i know one soldier said he used what he said wrongly and lied to him about things before hand.

calmwaters · 02-21-2008, 02:08 AM

Interesting tidbit: In my state, don't know about others, the DSHS free and discounted medical insurance plans called Basic Health is provided by a private insurance company based out of California. That means WA pays a private ins co to provide payment for it's tax funded premiums. To say that Molina (the private ins co) is in the business of philanthropy and bettering the health of poor people is pure B.S.

Insurance companies are in the business to make money off of DENYING payment for people's illness, pain and disease, period. My own insurance company denied payment of a $10,000 bill for almost year until I finally turned them in to the state insurance commissioner, who took over my plight and got the payment within days. Had I not promoted my case to the proper authorities (as I'm sure many people don't), I would have been stuck with a $10,000 bill (and continued insurance premiums, deductibles, etc,) and been screwed.

guineapig · 02-21-2008, 01:26 PM

What I found most interesting in Sicko was that doctors in socialized medicine aren't "broke," "starving," or "just getting by." That was one myth I still believed. That one GP made twice what the GPs I know here make.

On the flip side of the coin, I know many ER doctors, GP, and pediatricians that say they are still struggling to maintain a MODEST house and pay off their student loans on what the US market pays them or reimburses them from capitalist insurance companies. Surgeons complain they get paid the exact same dollar amount (not inflated--the exact same amount) for a surgery now as that same surgery in 1976, and it's not any faster to perform. Doctors are fleeing surgical and OB residencies like the plague because of the sorry-reimbursement to malpractice-student-loan-uninsured-not-paying ratio. That, too, is scary. Who will be captain of the trauma team?

But yeah, the companies are EVIL. And time to battle the insurance companies to get the care you require takes time, time, time. Many working Americans 9-5 don't have that kind of time. And certain states still absolutely will not pay for certain things. To add to my list earlier, our state also won't pay for smoking cessation of any type, yet they charge $50/mo more for smokers premiums. That makes me mad, and I've never smoked in my life.

psviolet · 03-24-2008, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *~April S~*

We do not have many illegal immigrants in this area from what I have been told just many people who dont pay their hospital visits at all and dont try to set up a payment plan. It just screws everybody in that situation as our bills go higher, our insurance gets pickier, and it ruins the other person's credit.

Living so close to the border we get this all the time- Not only do I work at a hospital, I'm also a nursing student so I basically feel like I live at all the local hospitals. In the past my parent's have actually received hospital bills in the mail for other people- Jose Garcia, Maria Hernandez, and such... they have just listed a random address that happened to be my parent's (who have lived there 20+ years so they aren't for any previous residents). From what I've heard this is fairly common around here. List a fake address and phone number and how can the hospital bill you? It's sad because everyone else pays for it.

mahjab · 03-24-2008, 03:04 AM

My experience with BC was really bad as well...I didn't have it for two long but we were paying over $200 per month for the premium and they charged over $200 something for only two visits that I made. Plus the copay! I'd love to see someone sue them for zillions of dollars.

novachick · 03-24-2008, 10:51 AM

So far Kaiser Permanente (MD/DC/VA area version) has been pretty great. Asked for a referral to an Endo at my first GP appointment, got it with no problems, saw her two weeks later. I didn't even have to bring any of my labs with me--they're all in the Kaiser system, so my Endo just pulled up my GP's notes and lab results on her computer.

She's great, smart, totally on top of metformin and has me auto-scheduled for blood draws every 3 months to see how it's doing. I don't have to see her every time to get a lab draw slip! My birth control is $40/mo (I really need to get the three month supply for 80$!!), which stinks, but I like it.

I can call or email my doc's office to get an appointment scheduled, and hear back within 24 hours. I've never waited more than 2 days for my GP, or 2 weeks for a specialist. All of my lab results are posted online the minute they come in--no waiting for my doc to call me with them, I get an automated email letting me know they're in.

I was really scared of such a true HMO organization when my company switched to them from Cigna. But it's been amazing so far---I love that my OB/GYN and my Endo and my pharmacy and my GP are all in the same building. I can set up three doc appointments in one day, and never leave the same building. Plus there isn't a deductible, so it's all 25/35 copays. I've been really surprised by it.

bjorka7769 · 03-24-2008, 02:12 PM

I saw this new forum and what did I find. I hate the for-profit insurance industry. It doesn't work. We got hit with a double whammy over the last 2 years because of it. First, we transitioned DD from EI to the school for services. Hah. Our insurance doesn't cover ST, OT or PT for her. Her services would've cost as much as DH makes (he's a student and I SAH for DD's behavioral/health issues.) She is now on medicaid, administered through a for-profit company. Then we decided to TTC after the news that a cyst had formed on my spinal fusion site and we had limited time (5-10 years) before I'd need another big-time surgery to correct it. I wanted to have my children semi-independent before that happened. The timing was horrid of course; we'd planned on waiting until DH was done with school. God has other plans for us. We then found that infertility treatment wasn't covered. We have struggled financially to pay the bills but have somehow managed. It took 1.5 years to conceive this, our sticky baby, pg #4. Yeah, I have a few choice words about the US not being universal healthcare.

Andrea

Tiffers1984 · 03-24-2008, 02:34 PM

Insurance.... I hate it! And I work in medical billing so I know it pretty well.
I don't know if anyone watched the Oprah episode where she had Michael Moore on. It was great. She opened it by saying "You may not like Michael Moore but you need to watch Sicko." She had a insurance rep there as well and they had a great "debate"/discussion. My BF hates Michael Moore but absolutely loved Sicko. There's also some great CNN video's on youtube were Michael Moore talks about the facts and the movie with them. (and jumps their cases about slamming 9/11 when it came out but agreeing with it now)

I've been to England twice and loved it. The food, the people, the tv shows and the healthcare. I talk to my exbf's(brit) brother all the time. While going through this PCOS dx and rx he couldn't understand why I had to pay $100 a month for meds and $40 for an office visit when I was on BCBS insurance. (which costs $250 a month through my employer). I had to explain I felt lucky to even have that because my last insurance policy lapsed and I got stuck with $1600 ER bill for the lancing of an abcess. It's my health! How can you put prices on someone's health?? We joke a lot about me moving there for the insurance.

And it's not the doctors faults. They have no choice but to accept what the insurances pay and deny. A doctor that tries to argue with a big insurance company such as BCBS or UHC gets knocked out of network. Which means a big loss of revenue and patients find one who's in network. And these insurance companies change policies so fast, coding guidelines change, filing guidelines change. And suprisingly, if you ask anyone who deals with insurance who they would rather deal with they will say Medicare. Which is a socialized medicine! They pay the highest as of last year, their guidelines stay the same, their policies are easy to understand by billers and patients and their claim denial rate is the lowest. A few years ago doctors didn't want to deal with Medicare or Medicaid patients now it's the easiest to deal with.

I have to call patients for a living and tell them their insurance denied their claims or that their insurance left an $800 deductible. It's heartbreaking. I bill for Geriatric, cardiac, rehab and sleep centers. People that are in that place, regardless of how well they budgeted in their life, do not need to be worrying about how they are going to pay for their heart surgery and trying to remember what their policy covers and what has to be authorized.

My father had gallbladder surgery and was having complications. He went back in and they opened him up only to find he had lymphoma. he went back later to have a PET to make sure it was completely removed and it was prior authorization was denied because it was too soon from the last one. He had to wait while the cancer possibly spread throughout his body. How stupid is that? And he's on Tricare/champus because he's retired military after 20 years.

Ok, I'm going back to work to deal with insurance companies

Sorry for my rant. I'm not trying to debate with anyone but this is a touchy subject with me.

StarofEvening · 03-24-2008, 09:10 PM

I pay 3600 dollars a year for health insurance for my husband and myself, and thats good. My last employer, if I would have wanted health insurance for us it would have cost $5200... $400 a month. I worked at a RETAILER for heaven's sake, that was almost half of my salary.

We went without health insurance for years because there was just no way possible to make the ends meet with it. Once I got the job I have currently, it even took us a little while to be able to afford the copays so we could go, how ridiculous is that??

Now we have both gone to the doctor and gotten check ups, he has severe ADD and taking medicine for it has opened up his whole world, and they are pretty sure I have PCOS and IRS (going back tomorrow hopefully for a diagnosis).

How insane to have to wait years to find out what is wrong with you so that you can feel better and actually have a decent standard of living?

The health insurance situation makes me sick mentally and physically, haha.

KatCarney · 03-24-2008, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guineapig

On the flip side of the coin, I know many ER doctors, GP, and pediatricians that say they are still struggling to maintain a MODEST house and pay off their student loans on what the US market pays them or reimburses them from capitalist insurance companies.

Yep, I know a bunch, too. I even know of some households with TWO doctors, and still having a hard time managing....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiffers1984

I don't know if anyone watched the Oprah episode where she had Michael Moore on. It was great. She opened it by saying "You may not like Michael Moore but you need to watch Sicko." She had a insurance rep there as well and they had a great "debate"/discussion. My BF hates Michael Moore but absolutely loved Sicko.

I agree. Everyone should watch Sicko...great film.