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crazedACD

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I don't know that much about politics, insurance companies, and healthcare but I really, really wish that dental fell more under healthcare. You want people to get jobs? Make sure they have all their teeth :/. Even with dental insurance, for major dental work, you are looking at up to 10k..and I'm not talking cosmetic things like braces.
 

Fran27

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Its not as easy as that though. Health insurance out of pocket for my family with Blue Cross and Blue Shield is:
224.40 with a 5 THOUSAND dollar deductible.
for a $1500 deductible it is
585.00

BEFORE we get into medical history. No maternity, no dental, only the 600 dollar one includes vision.

To take my kids to the dr out of pocket is $120 for a check up and shots, $75 for a sick visit, $100 for a checkup no shots.

For us we have a sliding scale dr. Hospitals will make payment plans/have grants.

It literally would NOT pay for us to have health insurance out of pocket.

Jeremy has been with his job 4 YEARS at full time hours and they refused to give him a full time employment status and that was legally ok.

He gets a limited health plan for all of us with Pizza Hut that we are looking into I need to call them but its been insane with Savannah that I haven't had 2 seconds to figure it all out.

Its not so cut and dry as OMG you are crazy for not having insurance. Out of pocket insurance is CRAZY.
With the new law, wouldn't Jeremy's job have to offer insurance though? I highly doubt here I'd pay less than $300 out of pocket for a check up... seriously the first time I went to the doctor here it cost me like $350. So yeah, for you I would see how much it would suck.
 

milos_mommy

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Is this state-by-state thing? In NYS, public health insurance is CHEAP, with decent coverage (most doctors will take it unless it's some kind of really ridiculous specialist, like a hypo-therapist or something), and you can qualify easily. It's for "low-income" families, but even with decent income, it's still fairly low. It's free if you're making under approx $1500/month, and it goes up to I think $3600/month for $60 per child with a family max cost of $180.

Anyone who can't afford that should be able to qualify for medicaid, and there's a variety of family plans, children plans, etc.
 

milos_mommy

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Is this a state-by-state thing? In NYS, public health insurance is CHEAP, with decent coverage (most doctors will take it unless it's some kind of really ridiculous specialist, like a hypo-therapist or something), and you can qualify easily. It's for "low-income" families, but even with decent income, it's still fairly low. It's free if you're making under approx $1500/month, and it goes up to I think $3600/month for $60 per child with a family max cost of $180.

Anyone who can't afford that should be able to qualify for medicaid, and there's a variety of family plans, children plans, etc.
 

darkchild16

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With the new law, wouldn't Jeremy's job have to offer insurance though? I highly doubt here I'd pay less than $300 out of pocket for a check up... seriously the first time I went to the doctor here it cost me like $350. So yeah, for you I would see how much it would suck.
Yes they would. Thats what I like about the law its not perfect BUT it does have SOME good. Am I saying it doesnt need some tweaking and have some flaws NO but it has some good points in it.


Is this state-by-state thing? In NYS, public health insurance is CHEAP, with decent coverage (most doctors will take it unless it's some kind of really ridiculous specialist, like a hypo-therapist or something), and you can qualify easily. It's for "low-income" families, but even with decent income, it's still fairly low. It's free if you're making under approx $1500/month, and it goes up to I think $3600/month for $60 per child with a family max cost of $180.

Anyone who can't afford that should be able to qualify for medicaid, and there's a variety of family plans, children plans, etc.
Here you don't get a choice of which one you get put on. It's based on income. The kids qualify for medicaid but we have the option of ONE dr. I would much rather pay myself and get to pick my doctor. They wont cover me because I don't cooperate with child support for Beverly and they only do low-cost for kids.
 

milos_mommy

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Here you don't get a choice of which one you get put on. It's based on income. The kids qualify for medicaid but we have the option of ONE dr. I would much rather pay myself and get to pick my doctor. They wont cover me because I don't cooperate with child support for Beverly and they only do low-cost for kids.
What do you mean? If you're on medicaid you don't get a choice in dr? Also, you don't have a choice here either, it is based on income, with the lowest being medicaid, if you don't qualify for that, you get child health plus or family health plus
 

Pops2

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Well, how many of those people are broke because of medical expenses? How will those people who can't afford $200 a month for a basic plan (totally putting a random number there) be able to afford a $30,000 bill if something happens and they have to go to the hospital? Honestly it's just crazy to me that people don't want health insurance. The meds I need to use alone cost like $1000 a month without insurance. Without them, I'd probably have to go to the hospital a lot. Paying for insurance is just cheaper in the long run.

So... I see both points. But IMO it's still the lesser of two evils.

But something needs to be done about health insurances. In France I was paying $50 out of pocket every month for my meds. Office visits were $15, and I was getting most of that back. I came here, no insurance, and paid $2500 for the same things. It's totally ridiculous. As far as I'm concerned, any business trying to make money out of people's health issues is just absolutely disgusting.
profit motive is why the USA has most of the best doctors & pharmaceutical companies (including outstanding doctors from other countries coming here to get filthy). PROFIT in and of itself is NOT evil or bad, w/o it people do NOTHING productive. profit on americans is how the pharmeceutical companies can afford to provide medications to 3rd world countries for next to nothing or even for free. price gouging is an issue just like it is with the oil companies.
 

darkchild16

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What do you mean? If you're on medicaid you don't get a choice in dr? Also, you don't have a choice here either, it is based on income, with the lowest being medicaid, if you don't qualify for that, you get child health plus or family health plus
The insurance we can afford to pay the monthly and the copays but they still give us the medicaid (we tried to apply for the kids. They do have medicaid we just never use it (the one issue we HAVE used it for was Savannahs diaper rash). You get a choice in drs sometimes but here there is only one dr's office that takes it.
 

milos_mommy

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Profit motives are also why doctors frequently prescribe inappropriate drugs and push invasive, unnecessary tests on patients, because insurance and pharmaceutical companies push them, over incentives, etc.

Doctors aren't paid for based on how well they treat you. They're paid for based on how often you get sick and go to see them. Why the hell would they have an incentive to make people better if they get a wad of cash every time you come in for a strep test?
 

Miakoda

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Doctors are also damned if they do, damned if they don't.

A doc is sued for malpractice if he doesn't run a bunch of tests, thereby takes a conservative route, and it turns out the patient has a major issue which those tests would e devalued earlier.

A doc is sued for malpractice if he runs a bunch of tests after opting to take a more aggressive diagnostic stance, and it turns out nothing is wrong with the patient.

My uncle is a retired OB/GYN. He might've made a nice salary, but when you pay over $750,000 in medical malpractice insurance, your paycheck doesn't look that great after all.

Another friend of mine is a pediatrician. After 9 years in school, and close to $100,000 in student loan debt, his $110,000/year salary doesn't seem all that great after all.

One of my concerns lies with the government reducing doctors' profits, thereby slashing yearly salaries, what incentive will there be for someone to give up 8-12 years of their life to college and medical school, not to mention the sacrifice of a social and family life?
 

Miakoda

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Doctors are also damned if they do, damned if they don't.

A doc is sued for malpractice if he doesn't run a bunch of tests, thereby taking a conservative route, and it turns out the patient has a major issue which those tests would e devalued earlier.

A doc is sued for malpractice if he runs a bunch of tests after opting to take a more aggressive diagnostic stance, and it turns out nothing is wrong with the patient.

My uncle is a retired OB/GYN. He might've made a nice salary, but when you pay over $750,000 in medical malpractice insurance, your paycheck doesn't look that great after all.

Another friend of mine is a pediatrician. After 9 years in school, and close to $100,000 in student loan debt, his $110,000/year salary doesn't seem all that great after all.

One of my concerns lies with the government reducing doctors' profits, thereby slashing yearly salaries, what incentive will there be for someone to give up 8-12 years of their life to college and medical school, not to mention the sacrifice of a social and family life?
 
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The flip side of that is that it is EXTREMELY difficult to prosecute a medical malpractice case. And expensive. IF you can find doctors and medical professionals who will testify -- IF you can, they don't often do it from the goodness of their hearts. It can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars to pay ONE witness, and docs have special immunity from being subpoenaed, so even if you've paid out $25,000 in deposition costs, your expert may decide to ditch you and there's not a damned thing you can do about it.

They do, however, often testify gratis on each others' behalf.

Frankly, I have to wonder if the insurance industry hasn't used hyperbole and creative statistics to jack up the med/mal insurance rates.
 
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Frankly, I have to wonder if the insurance industry hasn't used hyperbole and creative statistics to jack up the med/mal insurance rates.
They absolutely have do. Anything to do with lawyers makes it an easy target to direct the ire of the masses at. Malpractice rates have risen in the hundreds of %'s over the past decade alone, meanwhile claims and payouts have remained relatively constant for at least the past 20 years.

and it is very difficult to bring about a case in the first place, let alone go to trial or have enough evidence to even win a negotiated settlement, let alone a trial.

Doctors aren't immune either. A lot of the "cover your ass" testing you hear about is a bunch of crap. That we have to test for everything so we don't get sued. A much more realistic portrayal would be saying "we'll treat you to the level of your insurance coverage".

But again, lawyers and lawsuits are easy targets. Nobody is immune. Great example, 82 year old man comes in, an obvious case of shingles. A monkey in med school could have diagnosed him. It took a 2 minute history and a 5 minute exam that asked for nothing more than to look, listen and feel.

He had an accurate and correct diagnosis that cost no more than 100 bucks to figure out. BUT when you're in a large hospital group there are other forces at work than just doctoring. He was immediately scheduled for an MRI at a cost of 1800 bucks, just to "rule things out". But it was mostly because he had a Medicare supplement that covered everything at 100% that medicare didn't cover. Only a single example of many.

If he'd have had medicaid, or no insurance, He'd have been given a script for maybe an antiviral and some topical pain reliever and sent out the door.
 

sparks19

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I'm so thankful for my doctor. I hope she doesn't have to pay the price for any of the bad doctors out there
 

milos_mommy

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I want to specify, most of the time I don't think the doctors are at fault (although sometimes I certainly think they are).

You know how we all don't trust vets with dog food because dog food companies run the nutrition seminars at vet school? Of course it's slightly different in human medicine, and doctors DO have to take actual, hopefully unbiased classes in all areas of medicine, but when a pharmaceutical company is sponsoring seminars and classes for doctors, how are you supposed to trust they're getting the truth?
 
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I want to specify, most of the time I don't think the doctors are at fault (although sometimes I certainly think they are).

You know how we all don't trust vets with dog food because dog food companies run the nutrition seminars at vet school? Of course it's slightly different in human medicine, and doctors DO have to take actual, hopefully unbiased classes in all areas of medicine, but when a pharmaceutical company is sponsoring seminars and classes for doctors, how are you supposed to trust they're getting the truth?
You'd like to think that, but sadly a lot dont' know anything more about a new medication than what was told in the sales pitch. There are some that will dig into the research on their own, but not close to all.
 

milos_mommy

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You'd like to think that, but sadly a lot dont' know anything more about a new medication than what was told in the sales pitch. There are some that will dig into the research on their own, but not close to all.
Exactly. And how many times (it happens to me a lot) does a dr put you on a medication, and when it has side effects, they just put you on another medication by the same company, to counter those effects.

Plenty of people think that's ridiculous and just stop taking the first med, or switch to something else, but lots and lots of people don't.
 

*blackrose

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Exactly. And how many times (it happens to me a lot) does a dr put you on a medication, and when it has side effects, they just put you on another medication by the same company, to counter those effects.

Plenty of people think that's ridiculous and just stop taking the first med, or switch to something else, but lots and lots of people don't.
My dad is a pharmacist in charge of the ICU ward at a hospital. He has told me before that doctors don't know jack when it comes to prescribing something. Lol But, just like in veterinary medicine...you don't like it, get a second opinion. Go see someone else. Ask the pharmacist. Speak to someone. If the medication isn't working for you, that isn't the doctor's fault if they don't know. And if they do want to put you on another medication to counter a side effect, that may be the best thing for what they are trying to treat. It may not. Ask about other options. This works for our pets, dont see why it wouldnt work for us.
 
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My dad is a pharmacist in charge of the ICU ward at a hospital. He has told me before that doctors don't know jack when it comes to prescribing something. Lol But, just like in veterinary medicine...you don't like it, get a second opinion. Go see someone else. Ask the pharmacist. Speak to someone. If the medication isn't working for you, that isn't the doctor's fault if they don't know. And if they do want to put you on another medication to counter a side effect, that may be the best thing for what they are trying to treat. It may not. Ask about other options. This works for our pets, dont see why it wouldnt work for us.
That is how people need to view it. The problem I have with it, is we're schooled and PAID like a professional. Supposed to be the "expert" and why time and knowledge is so expensive because it's supposed to be valuable.

Now if a regular patient is supposed to know enough and be able to have the background knowledge to make informed decisions on medical decisions then why exactly is healthcare so expensive?

A first opinion puts people in the poor house sometimes now they have to go pay for a 2nd one and go further in a hole? and for what? If they don't know, they don't know. If they do, then they are met with resistance for questioning the "expert".

It isn't easy, but certain groups of people are paid the respect and MONEY to KNOW things. I'm glad they all went to school, but doctoring doesn't stop there, that's just the start.
 

darkchild16

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That is how people need to view it. The problem I have with it, is we're schooled and PAID like a professional. Supposed to be the "expert" and why time and knowledge is so expensive because it's supposed to be valuable.

Now if a regular patient is supposed to know enough and be able to have the background knowledge to make informed decisions on medical decisions then why exactly is healthcare so expensive?

A first opinion puts people in the poor house sometimes now they have to go pay for a 2nd one and go further in a hole? and for what? If they don't know, they don't know. If they do, then they are met with resistance for questioning the "expert".

It isn't easy, but certain groups of people are paid the respect and MONEY to KNOW things. I'm glad they all went to school, but doctoring doesn't stop there, that's just the start.
We went through that just now. I KNEW that there was something wrong with Savannah and both the er doc and her doc wrote it off and caused even MORE problems. *I* had to trial and error on the side and TELL the dr what the problem was.

HECK you get that for just asking questions from some drs.

Morgan had a reaction to a vaccine that put him in the hospital. We have been spreading out Savannahs vax's and I asked the dr that saw her last to do it again. She said sure she will just get 2 shots.

She got 2 shots with FIVE vaccines! Ended up having a allergic reaction to her formula AND her shots.
 

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