Today, I'd like to know what about your health insurance concerns. I know you probably all have more than one, but which is your biggest problem?

Thanks for your help. I'm new to writing polls, so I hope I gave you reasonable choices. If not, bear with me and I'll do better next time

I also think its been proven here that Cobra doesn't work when jobs are lost.  In most cases, even if one is eligible for unemployment benefits, the cost of Cobra far exceeds the amount of unemployment payments.  

I personally know a number of Veterans who are totally disabled and the Veterans Administration has done little to help with healthcare.  Often waiting times for appointments are long, service is poor and, all too often, Veterans are left to seek help elsewhere.  With the thousands of wounded and disabled from Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a great need for improvement in this area.

All the best,

Chris   

Friends are just angels who have forgotten how to fly

I would prefer to have my doctor address my needs, not the desires of some bureaucrat who is more concerned about the ins. co.'s bottom line than about my health.  Instead of spending their time concentrating on how best to help the patient, doctors have to make sure that they write every little detail so that they can document to the insurance company what the visit entailed.  I've heard doctors say that they end up down-coding many visits just to avoid being accused of overcharging.  Doctors should be able to focus on the patient.

Insurance encourages doctors to rush through as many patients as possible. At $100 per appointment, the practice that spends 15 minutes per patient gets $400 per hour; the practice that spends 20 minutes per patient gets $300 per hour. That's a difference of $800 per day. Admittedly, not all appointments are quick, but two years ago my PCP cut the time for routine physicals from 60 minutes to 45.  Over the course of a month, that could mean an extra $2000 to him.  I'd rather have a doctor spend time with me and fully address my concerns.  A flat fee of __ per office visit (to cover all the support staff needed in scheduling, billing, filing, nurse, etc), plus a charge that would fluxuate based on the amount of time the doctor spends would be appropriate sometimes. 

Insurance causes some doctors to be more concerned with what they'll get paid for than they are about treating the patient.  For example, only one cortisone shot is covered at a time.  If you need an injection in more than one joint, you must decide which one hurts worst.  If the doctor could just treat the patient instead of being concerned about the insurance contract, doctors could be paid for injecting more than one joint. According to my EOBs from last year, my PCP gets a total of $62.08 for two cortisone injections, or $105.71 for one injection. Same billing code. This makes no sense to me.  Since he also gets to bill separately for the office visit, there is huge incentive for the doctor to only do one at a time.  To further illustrate how screwed up this system is: my rheumatologist gets $76.96 for the same cortisone shot.  I seriously doubt that this is the only example of how the system works.  Insurance carries a financial reward to doctors for working the system instead of just treating the patient as efficiently as possible.

Insurance has an unfair reimbursement system for healthcare.  My insurance company paid my rheumatologist's office $93.91 for the PA to spend ten minutes with me and rush me out the door (no exam, no change in meds).  A couple weeks later my personal physician only got $52.63 for spending an hour answering all my questions.  An MD should get more than a PA.  Sixty minutes should be worth more than ten.  I feel that the RD's office was overpaid; I feel that my PCP's office was grossly underpaid. In a free-market system, this system would self-correct because those who provide quality service would have more business than those who don't.

The final concern I have about insurance is:  having access to it.  I retired from work to stay home and raise my family. I am covered under a good insurance plan provided by my husband's employer. He wants to retire in five years, and I'm realizing that with $1000 per month premiums, I might need to return to work, strictly to have access to health insurance, but be physically unable to do so.

 

+WarmSocks
______________________________________________________
Aiming for NED
  Plaquenil, Sulfasalazine, Methotrexate, Folic Acid, Feldene, Prilosec, Verapamil, Maxalt, Diclofenac Gel, vitamins

Bette 

God bless and keep you,
Bette

Current DX: Inflammatory Ostearthritis (apparently this is not an oxymoron), IBS, Fibro.
Current Meds & what they are for: Plaquinil (arthritis)Triamterene/Hctz (decrease water retention), Dicyclomine (IBS), Ropinirole (Restless Leg), Lexipro (AntiDepressant), Allopurinol (Uric Acid Reducer), Lortab (Pain), Flexiril (Muscle spasms), Savella (Fibromyalgia), Omeprazole DR (decrease stomach acid), Naproxen Sodium (Anti-inflammatory), Omega 3 Fish Oil (anti-inflammatory), Super B-Complex, Concentrated Black Cherry (Uric Acid Reducer).

When generics can vary +/- 20%, we have a problem.  When Medco can tell you you have to have your diabetic meds via the mail, and the say they can guarantee the safety, I wonder how?  What if something goes wrong with traffic or the box springs a leak?  Where is our efficacy proof that one med works as well as another?  What options do I have if one version doesn't work for me and they tell my I have no choice but to use it?

Who is protecting us?  Seems to me the only thing being protected is the bottom line of the corporations.

Pip