Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 Hi , The problem with it beyond the possibility of catastrophic events is that the whole system is geared to people who have insurance--my lab bills come at maybe $130 or so...then Blue Cross 'disallows' certain aspects of the bill...then even though I have never reached my huge deductible I only have to pay about 20% of the original bill. So I figure they inflate the cost of the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, subsidizing the rest of us. I'd love it if some of there could be a movement toward 'underground' doctors and labs offered a 'true cost' alternative. No insurance paper work for them...no need to have coverage that bargained for every little thing for us. I bet the cost of true catastrophic coverage, without all the little stuff, would be much less. After all, the paper pushers don't have to get their cut! Terry > > Reply-To: graves_support > Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 11:52:56 -0800 > To: graves_support > > Subject: Venting- Granny and Jody > > I'd cancel insurance and pay out of pocket (we pay $670/mo for insurance) > because it'd be wayyyyy cheaper. But hubby wants us covered if anything > catastrophic happens or if I develop something chronic that does take a lot > of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 Hi , The problem with it beyond the possibility of catastrophic events is that the whole system is geared to people who have insurance--my lab bills come at maybe $130 or so...then Blue Cross 'disallows' certain aspects of the bill...then even though I have never reached my huge deductible I only have to pay about 20% of the original bill. So I figure they inflate the cost of the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, subsidizing the rest of us. I'd love it if some of there could be a movement toward 'underground' doctors and labs offered a 'true cost' alternative. No insurance paper work for them...no need to have coverage that bargained for every little thing for us. I bet the cost of true catastrophic coverage, without all the little stuff, would be much less. After all, the paper pushers don't have to get their cut! Terry > > Reply-To: graves_support > Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 11:52:56 -0800 > To: graves_support > > Subject: Venting- Granny and Jody > > I'd cancel insurance and pay out of pocket (we pay $670/mo for insurance) > because it'd be wayyyyy cheaper. But hubby wants us covered if anything > catastrophic happens or if I develop something chronic that does take a lot > of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 Hi Terry- Insured patients do subsidize the people that don't pay so you're right. It works that way in the emergency room where there is a federal unfunded mandate that ALL patients must be treated appropriately. Hospitals have no choice but to raise costs for their paying patients (most of which are insured) or risk closure especially in a state like California where there's a huge number of uninsured patients. Even passing the costs to insured patients, many hospitals in our state have had to close because it's not enough to cover the cost of providing healthcare to everyone. Too many uninsured patients have been using the emergency rooms for routine healthcare rather than the emergency cases that the ERs are designed to handle. And you wouldn't believe the minor things that they come in for. Oh!!!! That's another soapbox. Take care, dx & RAI 1987 (at age 24) > Hi , > > The problem with it beyond the possibility of catastrophic events is that > the whole system is geared to people who have insurance--my lab bills come > at maybe $130 or so...then Blue Cross 'disallows' certain aspects of the > bill...then even though I have never reached my huge deductible I only have > to pay about 20% of the original bill. So I figure they inflate the cost of > the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people > without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, > subsidizing the rest of us. > > I'd love it if some of there could be a movement toward 'underground' > doctors and labs offered a 'true cost' alternative. No insurance paper work > for them...no need to have coverage that bargained for every little thing > for us. I bet the cost of true catastrophic coverage, without all the little > stuff, would be much less. After all, the paper pushers don't have to get > their cut! > > > Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 Hi Terry- Insured patients do subsidize the people that don't pay so you're right. It works that way in the emergency room where there is a federal unfunded mandate that ALL patients must be treated appropriately. Hospitals have no choice but to raise costs for their paying patients (most of which are insured) or risk closure especially in a state like California where there's a huge number of uninsured patients. Even passing the costs to insured patients, many hospitals in our state have had to close because it's not enough to cover the cost of providing healthcare to everyone. Too many uninsured patients have been using the emergency rooms for routine healthcare rather than the emergency cases that the ERs are designed to handle. And you wouldn't believe the minor things that they come in for. Oh!!!! That's another soapbox. Take care, dx & RAI 1987 (at age 24) > Hi , > > The problem with it beyond the possibility of catastrophic events is that > the whole system is geared to people who have insurance--my lab bills come > at maybe $130 or so...then Blue Cross 'disallows' certain aspects of the > bill...then even though I have never reached my huge deductible I only have > to pay about 20% of the original bill. So I figure they inflate the cost of > the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people > without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, > subsidizing the rest of us. > > I'd love it if some of there could be a movement toward 'underground' > doctors and labs offered a 'true cost' alternative. No insurance paper work > for them...no need to have coverage that bargained for every little thing > for us. I bet the cost of true catastrophic coverage, without all the little > stuff, would be much less. After all, the paper pushers don't have to get > their cut! > > > Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 Thank You Terry for 'getting it'. It is so very frustrating, in that most people do not. You said: " So I figure they inflate the cost of the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, subsidizing the rest of us. " This is true. I just wrote my final check to Quest Diagnostics for that FreeT3 test I had back in March. I have paid them every month for this one test. I have also spoken to them twice, trying to understand why I am paying $100 more for this test than is changed to the insurance companies. I understand that I do not have a 'union' ( ins. co. ) behind me, and that I always pay more for everything, BUT...this time the difference was excessive. As you may remember we took a small poll when I asked what the rest of you paid for FT3. ALL answers I received were in the $50 range, give or take. I was charged $155. Quest was very skilled in avoiding a definite answer. And I am normally pretty good at these kind of conversations. Even if it is only a hint or getting some one so flustered they almost spill the beans. But they are trained to evade any kind of hint at all. Interestingly, I also just paid my final payment on my brand new Maytag washer and dryer I bought at the same exact time I had my FT3 done. Pretty darn ridiculous if you ask me. Bottom line. Any uninsured thyroid patient is NOT going to be able to have proper testing done. WE are the honest , hard working people out here that always pay all our bills no matter how long it takes, and can not afford the price they want to insure us. I have not checked for several years, but at last check, the best I could find was $460 a month , which would be well over $500 a month now, and this included the exclusion, that anything affected by my ovaries would NOT be covered at all. This is because I had ONE period that would not stop on it's own, while I was insured. So this will be with me forever. Now with Graves' I can only imagine all the rest of the things they will not cover while I pay the $500 a month. Yeah...right. Now mind you, I was smart enough they never knew about the Ulcerative Colitis. Once on ins. I went else where for continuing treatment , used my old doctors name, but happened to not quite get MY name right at the new doctors office. They don't check Id you know. They also accept cash as payment. At this point, it doesn't matter who knows how I had to swing this, since I will never be able to have medical insurance anyway. So folks, this is how the uninsured, honest people live in this country. -Pam L- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 Thank You Terry for 'getting it'. It is so very frustrating, in that most people do not. You said: " So I figure they inflate the cost of the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, subsidizing the rest of us. " This is true. I just wrote my final check to Quest Diagnostics for that FreeT3 test I had back in March. I have paid them every month for this one test. I have also spoken to them twice, trying to understand why I am paying $100 more for this test than is changed to the insurance companies. I understand that I do not have a 'union' ( ins. co. ) behind me, and that I always pay more for everything, BUT...this time the difference was excessive. As you may remember we took a small poll when I asked what the rest of you paid for FT3. ALL answers I received were in the $50 range, give or take. I was charged $155. Quest was very skilled in avoiding a definite answer. And I am normally pretty good at these kind of conversations. Even if it is only a hint or getting some one so flustered they almost spill the beans. But they are trained to evade any kind of hint at all. Interestingly, I also just paid my final payment on my brand new Maytag washer and dryer I bought at the same exact time I had my FT3 done. Pretty darn ridiculous if you ask me. Bottom line. Any uninsured thyroid patient is NOT going to be able to have proper testing done. WE are the honest , hard working people out here that always pay all our bills no matter how long it takes, and can not afford the price they want to insure us. I have not checked for several years, but at last check, the best I could find was $460 a month , which would be well over $500 a month now, and this included the exclusion, that anything affected by my ovaries would NOT be covered at all. This is because I had ONE period that would not stop on it's own, while I was insured. So this will be with me forever. Now with Graves' I can only imagine all the rest of the things they will not cover while I pay the $500 a month. Yeah...right. Now mind you, I was smart enough they never knew about the Ulcerative Colitis. Once on ins. I went else where for continuing treatment , used my old doctors name, but happened to not quite get MY name right at the new doctors office. They don't check Id you know. They also accept cash as payment. At this point, it doesn't matter who knows how I had to swing this, since I will never be able to have medical insurance anyway. So folks, this is how the uninsured, honest people live in this country. -Pam L- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 Pam L - I sympathize greatly with the self-insurance dilemma. We had to self-insure when hubby started his own business. I hate it, but also glad to have it. Thankfully we had it before he got diabetes and I got GD. I shudder to think what would happen if we had to get it with those conditions. Granted we live in Iowa, but when we got our private insurance for the family, we pay about $500 a month for the 5 of us. And that's for pretty comprehensive coverage. We recently had to get our last remaining employee private insurance and for him it was like $200 a month for just himself. We get ours through Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which I don't know if you would have in your area. But would it really be so much more expensive because of the part of the country you live in? That's just unbelievable! What a racket these insurance companies have! I easiely understance how there can be so many un- and under-insured people. When was unemployed for so long, we sweated about how we were going to be able to pay that insurane premium, but we couldn't dare not. We'd never be able to get coverage for either of us again. Sad that that is the way it works in this supposed " modern " world of ours. Re: Venting- insurance > Thank You Terry for 'getting it'. > > It is so very frustrating, in that most people do not. You said: > " So I figure they inflate the cost of > the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people > without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, > subsidizing the rest of us. " > > This is true. > I just wrote my final check to Quest Diagnostics for that FreeT3 test I had > back in March. I have paid them every month for this one test. I have also > spoken to them twice, trying to understand why I am paying $100 more for > this test than is changed to the insurance companies. > I understand that I do not have a 'union' ( ins. co. ) behind me, and that I > always pay more for everything, BUT...this time the difference was > excessive. As you may remember we took a small poll when I asked what the > rest of you paid for FT3. ALL answers I received were in the $50 range, give > or take. I was charged $155. > Quest was very skilled in avoiding a definite answer. And I am normally > pretty good at these kind of conversations. Even if it is only a hint or > getting some one so flustered they almost spill the beans. But they are > trained to evade any kind of hint at all. > > Interestingly, I also just paid my final payment on my brand new Maytag > washer and dryer I bought at the same exact time I had my FT3 done. Pretty > darn ridiculous if you ask me. > > Bottom line. Any uninsured thyroid patient is NOT going to be able to have > proper testing done. > > WE are the honest , hard working people out here that always pay all our > bills no matter how long it takes, and can not afford the price they want to > insure us. I have not checked for several years, but at last check, the best > I could find was $460 a month , which would be well over $500 a month now, > and this included the exclusion, that anything affected by my ovaries would > NOT be covered at all. This is because I had ONE period that would not stop > on it's own, while I was insured. So this will be with me forever. > Now with Graves' I can only imagine all the rest of the things they will not > cover while I pay the $500 a month. Yeah...right. > > Now mind you, I was smart enough they never knew about the Ulcerative > Colitis. Once on ins. I went else where for continuing treatment , used my > old doctors name, but happened to not quite get MY name right at the new > doctors office. They don't check Id you know. They also accept cash as > payment. > > At this point, it doesn't matter who knows how I had to swing this, since I > will never be able to have medical insurance anyway. > > So folks, this is how the uninsured, honest people live in this country. > > -Pam L- > > > > ------------------------------------- > The Graves' list is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace expert medical care. > Please consult your doctor before changing or trying new treatments. > ---------------------------------------- > DISCLAIMER > > Advertisments placed on this yahoo groups list do not have the endorsement of > the listowner. I have no input as to what ads are attached to emails. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 2, 2002 Report Share Posted December 2, 2002 Hi Pam- This just drives me crazy. I cannot find insurance that will take me. The only way I can be on a plan is through my husband's job. That $670/mo we pay is for an HMO (that's over $8K/year). I wanted to know what the PPO was and it was almost $1K/mo for us. Part of the problem is that they charge physicians more for insurance. I would think it would be less because the doctors I'm familiar with go to the doctor much less than the average patients does. Even with my Graves', I spend much less in doctor's visits and lab tests for the insurance company than does my healthy sister. Yet they charge us much more. I finally made my husband Tom go to the doctor this year for a well-check. He's 41 and hadn't been to the doctor for over 5 years and before that I don't remember him going and we've been together for almost 18 years. Our 6 year old son, Tavis hasn't been to the doctor for 1 1/2 years and that time it was only because the school demands it. Ugh! I guess they figure we can afford it. That bugs me when there's so many people I know that go to the doctor for colds. We'd never go to the doctor for that. And we don't go for the flu or prescribe ourselves antibiotics (colds and flus are viral so antibiotics don't work). It's a mystery. Take care, dx & RAI 1987 (at age 24) > Thank You Terry for 'getting it'. > > It is so very frustrating, in that most people do not. You said: > " So I figure they inflate the cost of > the tests, because the insurers will disallow so much and then, the people > without insurance at all will be forced to pay the inflated amount, > subsidizing the rest of us. " > > This is true. > I just wrote my final check to Quest Diagnostics for that FreeT3 test I had > back in March. I have paid them every month for this one test. I have also > spoken to them twice, trying to understand why I am paying $100 more for > this test than is changed to the insurance companies. > I understand that I do not have a 'union' ( ins. co. ) behind me, and that I > always pay more for everything, BUT...this time the difference was > excessive. As you may remember we took a small poll when I asked what the > rest of you paid for FT3. ALL answers I received were in the $50 range, give > or take. I was charged $155. > Quest was very skilled in avoiding a definite answer. And I am normally > pretty good at these kind of conversations. Even if it is only a hint or > getting some one so flustered they almost spill the beans. But they are > trained to evade any kind of hint at all. > > Interestingly, I also just paid my final payment on my brand new Maytag > washer and dryer I bought at the same exact time I had my FT3 done. Pretty > darn ridiculous if you ask me. > > Bottom line. Any uninsured thyroid patient is NOT going to be able to have > proper testing done. > > WE are the honest , hard working people out here that always pay all our > bills no matter how long it takes, and can not afford the price they want to > insure us. I have not checked for several years, but at last check, the best > I could find was $460 a month , which would be well over $500 a month now, > and this included the exclusion, that anything affected by my ovaries would > NOT be covered at all. This is because I had ONE period that would not stop > on it's own, while I was insured. So this will be with me forever. > Now with Graves' I can only imagine all the rest of the things they will not > cover while I pay the $500 a month. Yeah...right. > > Now mind you, I was smart enough they never knew about the Ulcerative > Colitis. Once on ins. I went else where for continuing treatment , used my > old doctors name, but happened to not quite get MY name right at the new > doctors office. They don't check Id you know. They also accept cash as > payment. > > At this point, it doesn't matter who knows how I had to swing this, since I > will never be able to have medical insurance anyway. > > So folks, this is how the uninsured, honest people live in this country. > > -Pam L- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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