A thread for health care conversation, articles, & personal experiences with the health care system where you live.
The most frustrating thing about health care for me (in NY state), is that every time I lose my job, I have to find an entire new network of psychologists, psychiatrists, PCPs, talk therapists, and counselors who accept Medicaid. It's gotten to the point where I've prepared a full dossier with a summary of 40+ years of trauma history, the dates and offices of all my mental health diagnoses, hospitalizations, and prescription information. I forward those documents in advance to all new offices. I've just started going through the entire process over again for the fourth time in the last few years.
I've received letters from insurance as far as a year after the date of service stating that they've elected not to cover a teletherapy appointment from 2023 so I am now responsible for $90 out of pocket for the 10-minute call. And prescriptions which should have been $1 to fill cost me over $300 because the doctor writing the script doesn't accept Medicaid.
It took a team of lawyers eight months to get Medicaid to cover an emergency hospitalization which would otherwise have made me lose my home.
(https://i.imgur.com/UBI4E0Bl.jpg)
Quote from: innerspaceboy on Oct 09, 2024, 05:33 PMThe most frustrating thing about health care for me (in NY state), is that every time I lose my job, I have to find an entire new network of psychologists, psychiatrists, PCPs, talk therapists, and counselors who accept Medicaid. It's gotten to the point where I've prepared a full dossier with a summary of 40+ years of trauma history, the dates and offices of all my mental health diagnoses, hospitalizations, and prescription information. I forward those documents in advance to all new offices. I've just started going through the entire process over again for the fourth time in the last few years.
I've received letters from insurance as far as a year after the date of service stating that they've elected not to cover a teletherapy appointment from 2023 so I am now responsible for $90 out of pocket for the 10-minute call. And prescriptions which should have been $1 to fill cost me over $300 because the doctor writing the script doesn't accept Medicaid.
It took a team of lawyers eight months to get Medicaid to cover an emergency hospitalization which would otherwise have made me lose my home.
Sorry to hear about your nightmarish dealings with the U.S. health care system. It seems like it's one of the most dysfunctional and definitely the most grotesquely greed-driven health care system in the world.
5 years ago, my Dad was hospitalized for 7 days and luckily his insurance covered everything while he was there. After he was released, he received an itemized invoice showing the exact charges for everything during his stay. The one expense which is seared into my mind was for the hospital room which he shared with another patient, as the rooms all had two beds and a shared bathroom. The cost per day for the room was $6,500.00 (USD). That's not a typo. SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS per day for 7 days. $45,500.00 for the week. Appalling beyond belief!
And that amount didn't include any of the tests or procedures or medications he was given during that time. Just the cost of the room.
A recent article about health care costs in America...
'Making peoples' lives hell': When he couldn't pay for cancer treatment, the hospital sued (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/medical-debt-crisis-north-carolina-rcna161200)QuoteMedical debt is a "problem that is uniquely American," said Berneta Haynes, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit organization, and an expert on the topic. "Even if you have insurance, if you have chronic health conditions that require you to interface more often with the health care system, you are putting yourself at greater risk for medical debt every single time you make" an appointment.
Holy shit,
@Psy-Fi. Why would the rooms be so expensive? 😱
We get free health care and just had our boy (who's blind on one eye) for a checkup at the hospital today. I've no complaints.
Quote from: Guybrush on Oct 10, 2024, 11:07 PMHoly shit, @Psy-Fi. Why would the rooms be so expensive? 😱
Shameless, rapacious, money-grubbing combined with corruption?
The American health care system is dysfunctional beyond belief.
If it had been a hotel room, for what it was, I wouldn't expect it to be more than 1/100th of that price.
Here's an article I posted in another thread a while ago but it fits in here, as well...
Ozempic maker defends high U.S. price: It's 'helping' reduce the cost of obesity (https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/ozempic-maker-defends-high-us-price-s-helping-reduce-cost-obesity-rcna161175)QuoteSen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told NBC News in June that he plans to ask Jørgensen why Novo Nordisk charges up to 10 to 15 times more for Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S. than it does in other countries. It charges around $1,300 a month for Wegovy in the U.S., according to a HELP Committee report, while the drug can be purchased for $186 a month in Denmark, $137 in Germany and $92 in the United Kingdom.
"It is clear that Novo Nordisk is ripping off the American people," Sanders said.
Here's a video that touches on the cost of health care in America today. The video isn't entirely about health care, and mostly is about the cost of living in general, and the cost of living in California in particular, but the part about health care applies to all 50 states. The health care portion is mentioned at the beginning of the video around the 3 minute mark. I'll put it in quotes below...
Retired and Living in America on Social Security, can you Survive?QuoteFor health insurance, for 3 of them, him, his wife, & his child, $2,200.00 per month.
And his health insurance doesn't cover eye or dental. And he has a 20% deductible.
2 years ago, when his child was born, his wife had to have a C-Section. She had to stay in hospital for 3 days.
With the operation and the time in hospital, their bill was $88,000.00 and they were responsible for 20% of that.
So he had to pay $18,000.00 out of his own pocket.
I had open heart surgery 5 years ago. Triple Bypass for which I stayed in hospital for 9 days.
After my 8 hour surgery and spending 9 days in the hospital, the total cost was $225,000.00 and by health insurance covered 80%
So I had to pay $45,000.00 out of my own pocket.
This is crazy. In today's America, 80% of all the bankruptcies are due to medical bills.
Harris backs slashing medical debt. Trump's "concepts" worry advocates. (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-donald-trump-medical-debt-2024/)
It is absolutely crazy. In Norway, we have "free" healthcare which is obviously a misnomer as it's tax funded and I pay taxes. However, ChatGPT estimates that from the roughly 240 000 kroner (21 950 USD) yearly tax I pay, just a little over a 10th of that goes to health services. So that 2200 USD that this family pays for insurance is what I pay for a year. My wife pays roughly the same, but our kids get health services for free.
So unless my math is stupid, that still means this family pays like 6 times more than we do for health services, plus there's the 20% deductible and the insane prices for medical services..
Yep, bonkers.
How Trump and Harris' health care stances and policy plans compare for the 2024 election (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-harris-health-care-2024/)
New Mexico man awarded $412 million payout over botched penile injections: "A national record-setting case" (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/botched-penile-injections-new-mexico-man-412-million-payout/)
UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting opens up 'volcanic' anger toward health insurance agencies (https://abcnews.go.com/US/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-opens-volcanic-anger-health-insurance/story?id=116544385)QuoteFury, anger and resentment toward the health care industry have exploded in the public rhetoric in the wake of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's killing and one activist said that "volcanic" eruption of emotion has been boiling up for years.
People have been flooding social media posts with statements chastising UHC for its policies, bringing up times they were personally denied coverage or hit with huge bills for services.
In some instances, some users have even praised Thompson's murder and the shooter, who is still on the lam and not been publicly identified as of Friday evening. UHC's Facebook post memorializing Thompson was filled with "laughing" emojis and comments chastising the insurer before comments were shut off.
Bipartisan Senate report slams private equity's "detrimental effects" on hospitals (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-report-private-equity-hospitals/)QuoteTwo private equity firms' efforts to wring profits out of hospitals in underserved communities put patients in danger, according to a new report released Tuesday by a powerful Senate committee.
The 162-page report by the Senate Budget Committee comes as Americans continue to express outrage over the role of corporations in the U.S. healthcare system, following the December killing of the CEO of the nation's largest health insurer. And its findings add to a chorus of lawmakers trying to address the detrimental impact of private equity ownership on critical U.S. hospitals — a subject that has been the focus of a two-year CBS News investigation.
"Private equity has infected our health care system, putting patients, communities, and providers at risk," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island who led the investigation with Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa.
"As our investigation revealed, these financial entities are putting their own profits over patients, leading to health and safety violations, chronic understaffing, and hospital closures," Whitehouse said.
Massachusetts law aims to prevent repeat of Steward Health Care crisis (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/massachusetts-law-steward-health-care-hospitals/)QuotePrivate equity firms that invest in hospitals will now face increased oversight in Massachusetts under a new law signed by Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday, after the scandal-plagued ownership of nine hospitals in the state exposed significant risks to patient care.
The law comes as a victory for the state after two hospitals closed last year when their owner, Dallas-based Steward Health Care, declared bankruptcy. Steward, which owned more than 30 hospitals across the country, was one of the state's largest hospital operators.
For two years, CBS News has been investigating the detrimental impact that private equity ownership can have on U.S. hospitals — especially those serving areas of high need and few resources. While Steward's hospitals struggled, CBS News found evidence of lavish spending by CEO Ralph de la Torre, including the purchase of a $40 million yacht in 2021, a $7 million Texas horse ranch in 2022, and two corporate jets valued at $95 million.
Prospect Medical Holdings files for bankruptcy after owners took hundreds of millions in payouts (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prospect-medical-holdings-bankruptcy-private-equity/)
UnitedHealth, employer of slain exec Brian Thompson, found to have overcharged some cancer patients for drugs by over 1,000% (https://www.aol.com/unitedhealth-employer-slain-exec-brian-175429698.html)
Wisconsin man dies after inhaler cost jumps $500, according to family's lawsuit (https://abcnews.go.com/US/wisconsin-man-dies-after-inhaler-cost-jumps-500/story?id=118422131)
United Health TARGETS Doctor Who Spoke Out Against Them
The Whole System Is CORRUPT w/James Li
Trump Introducing Pfizer CEO Sparks Loud Booing Inside White House (https://www.newsweek.com/trump-pfizer-ceo-booing-white-house-2034210) :finger:
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out...
DOJ Going After Company of Murdered CEO, United Health Group
Trump's new FDA Chief - with Dr. Marty Makaray