Healthcare

[moronqueen]

So, today, I finally got myself to the dentist. Nothing's wrong...no cavities, but I need to do the whole wisdom teeth thing, and have the option of getting a little cosmetic stuff done.

I'm pretty sure we're gonna have a massive bill for the wisdom teeth, but they need to be out because they're coming in at a right angle to my other teeth...it irritates me. For necessary procedures people go broke, even when they do have health/dental insurance.

The dentist referred me to an orthodontist for some nasty misallignment in the front of my mouth, but when I look up to see if orthodontics is covered? Nope. It'd all be out of pocket. Seriously...what would a parent need to do if their kid needs braces to get all their teeth in?

I've got a hell of a lot more understanding towards my mom not wanting to take us to the dentist or doctor growing up...

Still...it just doesn't seem right. Not only do we have the rediculous wait, but we then have a massive bill to deal with in addition to recovering from whatever procedure needed. Health shouldn't be so industrialized...it's increadibly hard finding a doctor who's less concerned with their pocketbook and more concerned about making the world a better place - in the US, anyway. I think I've lucked out with this dentist, but I've yet to find a doctor I can trust for most anything else. I'm very lucky to have insurance in the first place, but there are times I wonder just how much difference it makes. Either way, we end up in pretty bad debt just so we can live without pain or disease.

It's obscene.

[Michaelangelo]

I can not agree with you more Mo.  All this crap about money before health is just sick.   I applied for Health care this week, we won't find out for a few weeks if I get it or not... but Wednesday I was taken to Emergency not sure if the health care will take care of that or not, and we haven't got the bill yet. 

So I totally agree with ya on the cost stuff... and it is bad to not have any insurance at all, esp trying to find help when you have an emergency.... call doctors to ask for help and as soon as they hear you don't have medical they send you straight to their billing departments.  It's like...  "Hello!  Health problem... need help!"

[moronqueen]

Exactly...the ERs around here are increadibly overburdened because people let their problems get bad enough to need emergency treatment as they can't afford the preventative care they need.

Ugh...my head hurts.

[Raphael]

And what's worse is that some people don't think there's a problem.  This past week, there was a show on Oprah where she was surprised to find that there are some Americans who cannot afford to visit a doctor when they have a problem, and the program showed that she's not alone.  As well, a former coworker of mine...who moved to Canada from the US...swore to me that EVERYONE in the US had access to good healthcare. I'd argue that I knew people online who were having issues with the health care system and she insisted that no one has problems. You go to doctors whenever you need to and the cost is covered.  You either have the money to pay for health care plans or you could get assistance if you were lower income, everyone is covered, somehow.  I eventually gave up arguing with her on the subject.

[moronqueen]

She has...absolutely no idea of what she's talking about. *shakes head* You need to be pretty desperately poor to get any help from the government in a lot of places, or willing to sacrifice some other neccesity for healthcare.

[Leonardo_Mystic]

Or be in a job that provides good health care plans with little cost. That's what happened to me. After working now at Walmart, I have the best medical/health plan I've ever had.

[Leonardo the 2nd]

I think it's the same with my MS. Before the health insurance company takes over the charge for the medicaments, there must be new inflammations in my head or I must have a 2nd impulse. Otherwise I think that the doc is afraid, that he has to stand for the costs. I have heard, that I have the right to be insistent to get medicaments, because of this very high possibility of having this illness.
Additionally I don't get informations what they are waiting for now and what's going to happen after the next MRI. *GRRR* So I also change my neurologist!

Money, Money, Money....

[moronqueen]

I think it's the same with my MS. Before the health insurance company takes over the charge for the medicaments, there must be new inflammations in my head or I must have a 2nd impulse. Otherwise I think that the doc is afraid, that he has to stand for the costs. I have heard, that I have the right to be insistent to get medicaments, because of this very high possibility of having this illness.
Additionally I don't get informations what they are waiting for now and what's going to happen after the next MRI. *GRRR* So I also change my neurologist!

Ugh...ouch. That's gotta be really rough...  I really, REALLY hope it works out for you soon here...one of my uncles just got diagnosed with MS, actually. Not so fun at all.

My sister's shopping around for new health insurance at the moment, because what she has now won't cover her breast reduction. They're saying it's a "cosmetic surgery", when it really is pretty important she get it done within at most the next 5 years. If she doesn't, she's in for back-surgery, and a life-time of back-problems thereafter, because while the surgery would correct the acute problems, her chest will still be pulling her spine even more out of allignment because the weight would still be there. Two docs have written the insurance company about that, but they're still not budging.

I really wish it was easy to move out of country sometimes...but it's not, so the most we can do is let our voices be heard through letter writing and protests, I guess..which is hard to do because there are jobs out there which would fire a person because of that kinda stuff. Ugh...

Leo 2nd - We do have pretty decent medical coverage at my job...they don't cover a lot, but what they do cover, they do well. Like, if I had a baby, they'd pay 100% of the bills, but if I wanted to go on certain kinds of birth control, I'd have to pay in towards it.

Our dental coverage is pretty bad, though. They pay out a maximum of $1000 a year, which really isn't that much when it comes to surgeries or good sized procedures...hubby had two root canals last year, and we still have over $800 to pay off on those (down from about $1200-$1300 - can't remember the exact number)...that's why I'm so worried about the bill for four surgical extractions, y'know? I'd really like to get the cosmetic stuff and orthodontics taken care of, too, but if the wisdom teeth are too much, then that'd have to wait. The cosmetic stuff really doesn't bother me that much, but not being able to get my teeth straightened out so I can finally have a normal bite really gets to me.

[Leonardo the 2nd]

Hmm I don't exactly know if I had to pay for my wisdom-teeth-op...Maybe my mother payed it?! It's too long ago when I got them out.

I hope your uncle has no problems now and feels ok??

[klork]

Yeah,I agree, Healthcare is pretty messed up.  I was lucky growing up to have a dad who had a job with excellent coverage--and then on top of it my husband now has amazing coverage as well.  I have to have it to make sure I stay in remission of cancer.  Just CT scans alone--without insurance--would cost over $6,000, and with insurance only cost us a little over $100 (which on a tight budget is still a painful bill to examine)

Thing is, I don't know what the best solution is...Doctors *do* need money to live as well, even if they do their thing for the greater good, they still have to survive as well.  Drug companies over price, but if they would push generic brands more it'd be ten times cheaper for medications (My clinic actually pushes generic, I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to get my allergy meds 100 tabs of them for only $2).  But the only problem is, if you push the healthcare industry (and it SO is an industry) into something government run, you end up with the problems that most government jobs end up having.  Long waits for urgent procedures, employees who start lacking in caring for what they're doing (kinda like the dmv XP) .

We don't have a good solution to healthcare, and I just still haven't heard a good one.  Honestly, I think more private practice places have the right thing in mind (the patient), but the problem is that they have to charge more than the other companies who are cheaper just to stay afloat.

It's...really just a messed up system.  I don't know if there's any change that wouldn't have another major downfall.  I mean....it's a crappy choice, but do you want good stuff that costs more or soso stuff that's cheap.  Or just get lucky and get good insurance. (oy!)

....I need to go to bed, I'm talking in circles, but I'm sure somebody out there gets the point.

[Lisardo]

Yeah the healthcare in this country is total BS!  I fortunately have some now thru my fulltime job, but heaven help me if I was unemployed or only employed part time.  I'd have to somehow get coverage and only have the absolute minimal coverage, which probably wouldn't help pay for office visits.  Thank god I do have some though, I've needed it for several office visits I've had recently.

My best advice is try to find a fulltime job which offers it for free or relatively cheap.  Otherwise try Anthem cuz that's what my friend did cuz her particular job didn't offer a good or very affordable healthcare plan.

[Leonardo the 2nd]

Grrr, the most docs here suc. Normally I had a term this week to visit a new neurologist. I wanted to change the old one, because I didn't get enough informations about the illness.
Stupidly the ms became noticable again before I visited him; I got a 2nd impulse

First I have to say that here in germany you have to pay charges for medical registration every quarter in a year.
So I called him. The receptionist was very bitchy and told me that I couldn't visit the new doc, because I was already there in july and paid. She set me in october now *grrrrr* I could have get a term at that day, but only to see the old doc...No thanks. Additionally it wouldn't have been good for me, when I wanted to change the doc, but would go to the old one in case of an emergency, she said to me....i have to add, that the 2 docs share one medical practice and the new one is in holidays at the moment. It seems as if you are not allowed to get ill.

Very unfriendly this woman.

I don't go there anymore....

[Lisardo]

Man I hear ya!  Paying some recent doc/lab bills is one reason I'm in debt right now.  As soon as I think to myself, "Oh I should get a dental checkup...it's been a while," I then immediately think, "NO!  Don't need to get in more debt!"  Sucks! 

I will say that my current job offers insurance so thankfully I now have some.  I didn't before and wouldn't have been able to afford it very well with, at the time, only a part-time income.   It's like you have to have a friggin' fulltime job just to get some and even then, it's not always guaranteed.  And that's hard for some people who are old or have health conditions, who can't work fulltime hrs to even qualify for it! 

I sure hope that while Obama is in office, gradually our healthcare horrors will start to change.  But I'm not giving my hopes up either.

[Nightwatchersonlygirl]

Where I live in the  U.K we get free healthcare

[Michaelangelo]

Lucky you

US health care sucks!

[Buslady]

Oz has free medical & dental as well.


anyways, yeah dental insurance means nothing. I dont have it. i have a $4600 bill for two crowns, a few fillings and cleaning. This $#!+ is expensive!
and i'm not done yet. after i get this paid, i need surgery to remove 5 teeth, one is nothing but roots...2 wisdoms and 2 broken rotting things. that'll be what? my leg arm and ear?

[AristaNiara]

As many of you know, I moved to Alberta, Canada due to my job which I ended up getting laid off of.  I'm living with a friend of mine now and money is REALLY tight.  I'm trying so hard to find a new job out here which will allow me to stay here.  Especially after I had gotten some REALLY bad news...My endometriosis has flared up and at the moment, I need to start seeing a specialist and there is a high possibility that i will need another surgery to burn off the endo.  I also found out that my window to have kids is closing rapidly.  I don't have a choice in this matter.

If I were to come back to the US like my family wants me to do, I wouldn't be able to get the surgery for several years.  The first surgery put me and my family in the hole $1500 and that was WITH insurance.  That's not including all the other doctor's appointments that had followed just to keep it under control.

If I came back to the US to get my surgery, I'd have A LOT of issues with insurance since some insurance companies won't cover the surgery due to many companies not feeling "extreem pain" is no basis to get surgery.  They'd rather say "Here's some prescription pain killers to get addicted to for your pain."  Hey, pain killers are cheaper to hand out than to give someone a surgery roughly every 5 years.  So the surgery might end up getting paid for out of MY pocket so paying back college loans + MAJOR money for surgery + missed pay from work, I'd be as many would say $#@&ed.

If I stay in Alberta, endometriosis is completely covered.  Now you all know why although I've had nothing but trouble up here, I'm trying to stay up here.

[Machias_B]

I Hate healthcare with a passion...

I got laid-off back in May, and was put onto COBRA insurance. I've had problems with this since day one.

1. They put me on Retirement. At 24? I wish...
2. They overcharge me while undercovering me
3. A couple months back, out of the blue, I received a refund for ALL of my payments made from May up to Sept. About $1,500.00  Confused, I call up the benefits people, TWICE, and they assure me, "Oh yes, this is fine... you should have been on Severance. Our mistake..." Both me and my mom's spidey-senses were tingling... so I cashed the check and put it away.

So, I'm not receiving any letters, no bills... I"m thinking "This is GREAT! that's 300$ a month that I can use for other bills and stuff.." One night, I just happened to go onto my internet information about my billing, Just out of curiosity. Imagine my surprise when I read, "You owe us $2,600+ Now, or you lose your coverage from the start of May on.."

I call them again. "Oh I'm sorry... because you weren't there a full year, you owe us that money back PLUS the months after that. We did call you about it." When? Really... cuz I was HOME all day. "We'll call you right back about what to do."

So here I am, three days before that cancel was going to go into effect, low on cash and losing my mind. The DAY BEFORE... I finally get a call. They put a hold on my account, and put notes in so that I could pay everything in a couple months. YET... this gets better.

I receive my first piece of paper document from them in about... 4 months. THIS bill... marked the day after talking to these people on the 4th.... I get it One week before Christmas. "Pay by January first, or lose coverage."

Needless to say, I wanna go set fire to their building. Cleaning out all the money and accounts I had wouldn't pay off the whole bill. I ended up getting a loan from my brother, and just barely got it there in time.

So now, I am my brother's slave, AND I am trying hard as hell to get a job so I can drop this garbage coverage.

[Lisardo]

Scratch what I said before.  Got laid off from my job and am now unemployed.  But now I don't have health coverage either....sweet.  Thankfully I'm pretty healthy and rarely go.  But still, it's the security of having it....gone now. 

[BubblyShell22]

I totally feel your pain, guys. I'm unemployed at the moment because there are no jobs out there for me to get. I graduated from college on May 19, 2008, and this May 19 will be a year since I've graduated. I honestly thought that having a college degree would make my job prospects easier, but I'm wrong about that. Plus, I was worried because in December I lost my health insurance because they changed the date. It was originally supposed to be gone when I turned 26, but they changed it to December 31. So, I'm panicking because in the summer I have to go to three eye doctors, and I didn't have insurance. But luckily that has changed. I now have a good insurance plan which actually covers my prosthetic eye, something my dad's insurance didn't do because they deemed it as cosmetic. So, I'm very relieved. I'm sorry you guys are having trouble with things, but at least I know I'm not alone.

[Machias_B]

Well... we had an interesting new development at work today...

Apparently our insurance (CIGNA) is Mandating that all insured people provide their Blood pressures, cholesterols, blood sugars and BMIs to be put into a database. IF you decide not to do it, they will withdraw 15$ our of each paycheck UNTIL you do it. And no, the money is not given back...

The thing I don't like about this is, the insurance companies do this 'database' in order to create high-risk pools where if the people in these categories do not 'conform/improve' their current conditions to the 'satisfactory level', they will either raise your costs sky-high or deny coverage. the rep said they're not doing this 'yet'.

My brother dealt with the same thing at his job. They check your blood sugar, cholesterol, BP, and your neck measurement. the ONLY thing against him was that he's overweight. The company said he had to get a document from his DOCTOR saying he was not too overweight to DRIVE a BUS. THEN they re-approved him for his job.

This whole situation at work just Screams HIPAA law violations....

[Raphael]

That just doesn't seem right that they can do that...