Wednesday, September 10, 2014

JUST THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW



Now don’t get too shocked, or too used to me showing up here between BOTB Installments, but there is something that I just have to talk about.

This has to do with Healthcare. I’m not going to go on about the Obamacare Debacle, BUT there are some things you might want know.

Let me start at the beginning.

If you’ve been reading along here with me, you know that I’ve had some health issues lately. My doctor decided that I need to have a test done, and we all know how expensive those pesky little medical tests can be. What you may not know is that I do NOT have insurance. Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m in non-compliance. Not really surprised are you. 

Anyway…I probably should tell you right here and now that a Major Medical Policy is going to cost me $550 a month. This policy has a $5000 deductible (meaning the first $5000 of EVERYTHING), after the deductible is satisfied most things will be at a 70/30 rate. Keep this information in mind, because you’re going to need it later.

Now, back to the doc and the test he wants performed. I asked how much it would cost and he said between $1,200 and $1,500. After he picked me up off the floor, I reminded him that I did not have insurance and could not afford that. He said don’t worry we’ll shop around for you to get a better deal.

‘What the hell does that mean?’ was my reaction. ‘Are we looking for some cut-rate, back-alley, diagnostic center to do my tests’. Doc says, no, no, nothing like that. This is the new medicine. If you go in and tell the hospital or diagnostic center that you have no insurance, but you will pay cash at the time of the test or procedure, they will cut you a deal. How much of a deal, I’m wonderin’? Cause I can’t afford even half of that.

The long and short of it is, the doc’s office called around and got me scheduled. The test is going to cost me $201. Can you believe that? From $1200 - $1500, down to $201. Great news for me, right? Well. Let’s go back and think this through.

Let’s say, I’m not the rebellious sort, and someone who is also more financially solvent, and I am in compliance with the new Healthcare laws. That means I’m paying $550 a month for insurance. Let’s even go so far as to say that at this point in time I’ve satisfied my $5000 deductible. That means my insurance would kick in and pay 70% of $1200 - $1500 for this test. Let’s even say the test cost came in at the lower price of $1200. That means all I would have to pay is $400. But I would have been paying $550 a month all along for the insurance in the first place, plus have shelled out $5000 to satisfy the deductible. 

This means at this date, I would have spent $5000 (deductible) + $550 x 9=$4950 (nine months Jan – Sep for insurance premiums) + $400 (my share 30%) = $10,350, for the exact same test that I’m paying $201 for, all because I can’t afford to be in compliance with the new Healthcare Laws that are going to see that I’m well taken care of.

Now, I know there will be at least one person who will want to jump all over my case and ask me what about being diagnosed with some dread disease. There is a time and place for that Major Medical Policy, I agree, but in the end are we all just gambling that we never have to use it.

My contention is not that we don’t need some form of insurance, but rather let’s look at what the insurance companies, big pharma, and the healthcare industry (provider like hospitals, labs, and diagnostic centers) are doing to us. There is something wrong with this picture. These are the people getting rich off of your misfortune. I also hope you’ll keep in mind it was my doctor who suggested all of this. When he saw my incredulity at the outcome, he explained that the insurance industry wants to blame doctors (and a lot of us do too), but in the end it’s not the doctor who really makes out, but rather the providers.

Also, there are apparently a whole lot more rebels who are in non-compliance, out there, or why would they be offering an alternative like this.

I had one final concern and that was; ‘will I get the same type of treatment and care during this test, as someone who has insurance and is paying ‘full price’. The doc assured me, and from what I can tell with the whole set up of this thing, no one will know, except for those in the finance office.

Welcome to the Brave New World of medical care and costs. This is a real eye opener for me. BUT, if your shocked by this, I encourage you to check out just exactly how many of those ‘dread diseases’ have a cure that is being withheld from you because, treating them is such big business.

18 comments:

  1. Yeah, that's enough to make your blood boil. So the person trying to provide for his family with full health care gets screwed. Nice.
    Don't get me started on Obamacare either...
    My wife did some research after hearing this guy talk and reading his book - most diseases have natural cures, but since they aren't approved by the FDA, they aren't allowed in this country. (There was also a bit about how doctors get huge kickbacks for recommending new drugs, but that's a whole new topic.)

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    1. If you really want to know the truth, but beware of 'blood boiling', read 'World Without Cancer' by G. Edward Griffin.

      Doctors and big pharma - a partnership made in hell. For even more blood boiling information read, 'Alive and Well' by Philip E. Binzel, Jr.,M.D.

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  2. That was quite the savings indeed, poor insurance company is going to miss out, they may now go broke, oh no. Pffft idiots jack everything up. One good thing about up here, tests are free. Meds and stuff can cost up the ying yang and many doctors are morons up here, yes they are to blame for being a moron, but at least we don't have to pay up the ying yang for something. The downside is we have to wait, if you get something that needs surgery there, pay and poof, can get it done. Here you're waiting months.

    And yeah, there are cures or at least better remedies many diseases out there, but oh no, can't have that. Need to keep the drugs pumping away. Even with all of this "donate to the cause" crap, nothing has changed and never will with the big pharma idiots. And the dumb arse doctors won't even change their minds too, oh no that can't be because it hasn't been declared by the FDA or CDC, pffft. End rant lol

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    1. Well I suppose it's something if you get the tests for free, but it just proves 'there is no such thing as a free lunch', if you die waiting for treatment.

      As proven in my case and the math above; somebody is paying big time for what may seem free.

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  3. FAE ~
    This blog bit fits in pretty nicely with the one I posted a little earlier today at 'Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends'.

    I will need to return and re-read this when I have less CRUZAN 'Black Strap Rum' in my bloodstream (which, by the way, is entirely YOUR fault, Saint Croix Chix, aka St.Cx.Chx.). But right now my alcohol-enriched blood is BOILING! (Which is not to say that ANY of this surprises me or catches me off-guard.)

    Do my eyes deceive me, or did Pat Hatt REALLY write:
    "One good thing about up here, tests are free."

    Seriously? It's 2014 and some people out there still think there's a "free lunch"?

    Hokey-Smoke! It must be like paradise at Pat's "Bay" or "Feed" or "Sea". Book me a flight - I wanna be Pat's next door neighbor next week!

    He means there's free shit out there and all we need to do is adopt his government's system? FREE STUFFS and NOBODY pays for it anywhere somewhere down the line? GENIUS! Count me IN on this NEW MATH!

    "PAT HATT FOR U.S. PRESIDENT IN 2016!"

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  4. Makes you really think what is the point

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    1. Makes you really think, you had better do some studying on your own and check every little detail.

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  5. I intend to come back later and comment on this, but.... yikes. It makes me wonder if the disgust with the insurance companies will eventually lead to everyone choosing non-compliance. Sounds cheaper, to me, to deal directly with the doctor. I need to think some more on this one....

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    1. The difference between paying $10,350 and $201? Yeah that's something to think about. Now, I admit that I have had other medical costs involved that I have had to pay out of pocket, but since I chose to go more the alternate route (Chiropractors and more natural supplements, that pharmaceuticals) I have only spent around another $700 on blood work that would have been covered by insurance. So, I'm still only at about 10% of what it would have cost me to be 'completely taken care of' - I'll say.

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    2. Sorry, I was in a hurry and l did not mention that the insurance I could afford (at $550 a month) would not pay for Chiropractic treatment and the natural supplements. So there ya go.

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  6. There is a hospital in Oklahoma City that I read about where they deliver care for less than half of the other regional hospitals, and all of the doctors are happy with their reimbursement, the care is highly rated and the patients seem satisfied.

    Why insurance companies do not jump on that modle is beyond me.

    Not to start a pity party for insurance companies, but they pay out most of your premium dollars in medical payments. Their margins are like those in a supermarket-they make money with a lot of volume-on each individual insured life, they make a very small amount (assuming they do not lose). Out of every premium dollar they collect, they are lucky to keep a couple of cents.

    So why they would not push a model that is lowering costs is beyond me.

    Sadly, there is a lot of greed in our healthcare system, including insurers, doctors, lawyers, pharmacy companies, hospitals, you name it..

    The other painful truth is that insurance clouds the issue. Insurance is really not about healthcare any more than auto insurance is about driving. Insurance is about covering you from a catastrophic event.

    But insurance became so prevalent in the latter part of the last century that people stopped caring about what their healthcare actually was costing until they were asked to pony up a bigger share of it.

    The prevalence of insurance and the popularity of HMO's contributed greatly to the increase in

    There was an interesting series in the New York Times last year comparing our health care costs to other countries, and the discrepancy was ridiculous.

    While I am not going to jump on the ObamaCare bandwagon, the one thing a socialized plan will do is pull some of the profit motive out of the system.

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    1. Well, you know me (maybe). I have a hard time getting behind anything 'socialized'. I don't think that is the answer, but this 'nanny state' isn't working either. It seems to me that today Healthcare is more about scaring us into jumping on one more dictated program, than caring for our health.

      An example is the neglect of preventative medicine. Isn't it still more cost effective to prevent disease than to cure it. Yeah, cost effective for us, but the medical industry. There is big $$$ in keeping us sick and scared,not to mention the little considered 'population control'.

      Can you tell I'm disgusted with the entire system. I'm a cancer survivor, so I've been through their system once before (with good insurance), which is why I have the medical issues that I do today. But, then I'm alive, right?

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  7. Story 5, 912 of the book medical insurance horror stories. I'm very happy you have a somewhat happy ending thus far.

    When I had my major leg surgery a few years back, my bill just from the hospital would have bought two nice new cars. I was laid off, and COBRA is as big a vampire as the health care system. In the end, they hospital wrote it all of on their charity deductions, and I spent three years paying off anesthesia, radiology, surgeon, and whatever else was left. The last one just went into collection when I got it paid off.

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    1. An all too familiar story. I have a friend who had emergency surgery last fall with no insurance. A week after her surgery her husband was laid off. Within a month the hospital wrote off everything that she had not paid as a charity deduction and her doctor greatly reduced her bill. When I told my doctor this story he said that is easy for hospitals to do because they charge ten times what they need to for the surgery so someone else paid for nine to be written off.

      My question; why can't we all just pay a 'fair share' and walk away like that? Don't bother trying to answer that one, as I already know the answer.

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  8. Everyone wants a bigger piece of the pie so they make the pies bigger and use cheaper ingredients. Somebody has to pay and the bucks keep getting passed.
    Thankfully we've got fairly good healthcare through my wife's job, but every year it seems to get a little more expensive and the quality of service goes down.

    Most of my life I went without health insurance. Fortunately my kids and I were all healthy during those years. I got health coverage when I needed it and that was one major benefit acquired through marrying the fine lady to whom I am now married. I don't know how much she'll be covered after retirement, but I guess there's always medicare. I sure hope I stay moderately healthy in the years to come.

    Sorry to hear about your situation. Hope you find a decent solution ongoing, but your experience might just be a harbinger of what is to come for all of us. And maybe worse--like a bad dystopian nightmare.

    Lee
    A Faraway View

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    1. The nightmare is here. If you read The Book and follow the news it certainly appears that 'end times' are here. Hell, I hear that in the middle east, they are crucifying Christ's followers once again. Course, folks have been saying that for awhile now.

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