My insurance company "strongly suggests" I see a doctor

[RB TexLa]

Got a letter from them stating that they have not had a claim for a doctor's visit in the last eleven years, and "strongly suggest" that I schedule one at my earliest convenience.


I've got my reply ready.

Yes, I will be going to give a doctor my money as soon I find it convenient to do so.

[TerdlowSmedley]

1. Congratulations on your robust good health.

[babylonsister]

2. That's a long time to go without even a check-up. It's probably good advice.

OTOH, you're lucky; you must be fairly healthy if nothing's ailing you.

[Dora]

3. You don't like doctors? n/t

[RB TexLa]

27. My aunt and cousin are both doctors, I have no problem with doctors

[Selatius]

4. Sounds odd. Why would they do this?

I thought the point was to cut costs from a profit-driven point of view? Won't going to the doctor do the opposite?

[murloc]

6. CYA

Proably a legal CYA of some sort...especially if its an HMO

[newyawker99]

34. Hi murloc!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Jonathan50]

7. Preventive medicine has long term cost savings effect.

Catching problems early on is much less expensive than waiting until they are very advanced for treatment.

[theoldman]

12. My company pays us to get annual check ups.

Blood tests can reveal a serious problem.

[Pastiche423]

19. Preventive medicine is excellent

when you have a doctor. But when you live in a town where doctors will not take "new" medicare patients, it does no good.

[cassiepriam]

5. Usually insurance companies hope we die. Then we don't cost them anything.

[Hekate]

11. Actually, a sick person can cost hundreds of thousands on the way out...

...for conditions that could be caught and cured for a fraction of the cost.

No, I think what insurance companies want is for the sick to just quietly disapppear after paying premiums while they were healthy. They want to not insure the sick in the first place. They want to insure only Superman, who never gets sick.

It's an industry, after all.

Hekate

[cassiepriam]

14. Yep they want us to be perfectly healthy and then just drop dead.

We are just an inconvenience to them.

Interferes with their multi million dollar bonuses and stock options.

[onethatcares]

8. sounds like they want to take a look at the merchandise

just to assure themselves the body doesn't have any dents, the headlights work and you don't have any hidden a/c problems. If you do, you get cancelled or a upcharge in premiums.

[Rosemary2205]

16. I'm and HR manager and I think so too.

The only time I've ever seen anything like this is an insurance company trying to find a reason to drop coverage.

[theoldman]

9. You are either extremely young, extremely healthy or very

negligent. Why don't you provide a few details on my comments. I am not being judgmental,just asking questions.

[RB TexLa]

26. I'm healthy, young is a relevant term

I'm 38. I just prefer to not pay the money to see the doctor, and I'm sure they will do their best to find something to try to get you to have treatments for.

[havocmom]

10. Called my insurer asking for a list of MDs I could see as I have no doctor & need one.

They gave me 3 names of doctors who would see me 'right away' Two of the three have been off on sabbaticals for almost a year.

Whadda ya gonna do? :rofl: to keep from crying.

[theoldman]

15. I think you would be better off getting a referral from a friend.

[havocmom]

25. I live in a VERY small town and my friends are 1000+ miles away

Most town folk do not have same insurer. Wouldn't do me any good to ask. Jumping through red tape hoops now and hoping for the luck of the draw.

[tammywammy]

28. Is it a larger insurance company?

Maybe on their website they list their doctors?

[knitter4democracy]

13. I'm just sayin', they might have a point.

Hubby saw a patient last fall who hadn't been to a doctor in over 20 years. His daughter finally talked him into getting checked out, and Hubby ended up finding advanced lung cancer. The guy died a week later. Hubby felt horrible about it and wished he'd seen the guy earlier. He still talks about it and wonders how that could have been prevented.

I had a kidney tumor Hubby caught last fall when I had some slight, odd symptoms I had been ignoring. He talked me and my doctor into getting me a CT scan, and that's what found the tumor that had to have been growing in my kidney for at least six years.

Ya want weird medical stories? I got 'em. ;)

[sandnsea]

17. I was diagnosed hypothyroid last year

I hadn't been to the doctor in ten years either. I could have died if it weren't for the weird cuticle infection that took me to the doctor in the first place, and a doctor who suspected thyroid disorder based on my appearance alone.

If you have money for a blood screen, get it. You're flat stupid to risk your heath to prove a point that nobody cares about except you.

[redacted]

18. There are millions of people without insurance who would be happy to

have an insurer pay for a doctor's visit.

You are one of the lucky one's. You have insurance, why -- in a world where medicine can catch diseases long before symptoms develop -- wouldn't you go to the doctor?

You are blessed to have insurance and presumably good health -- you should take advantage of it.

And yes the insurance company is trying to save money by asking you to seek preventive care. However, it saves all of us who have private insurance -- because when you manage your health poorly (and I consider no preventive care for 11 years poor management) it costs us all higher premiums.

[Beaverhausen]

21. Exactly. If one is lucky enough to have it, use it.

at least for the yearly physical. Sheesh.

[Quantess]

20. Your ins. co is concerned that maybe you are a liability rather than an asset.

Their job is to value their dollars.
Your job is to value your health.

Have you considered the potential value of long-overdue routine checks and tests?

[SoCalDem]

22. Bingo.. I would call them and have them define "soon"

If you wait too long, and something is "found", they may have a loophole to let them off the hook for paying..

"We warned him/her, and they ignored our suggestions, so we are not liable for expenses".

[RB TexLa]

30. No, I consider not spending the money for them. n/t

[Quantess]

31. From me 2 U

Just walk right in , walk right out.

[CountAllVotes]

23. you are right

If I see a doctor and I am not sick, I'm considered a "well person" therefore the insurance won't pay for a "well person" exam. So who pays for the check-up I ask? One guess and clue - it is not the insurance company.

It is me that pays the bill and the insurance costs approx. $6,000.00 per year. :mad:

:kick:

[tammywammy]

29. That really sucks

I have an annual physical ("well woman") and it's fully covered by my insurance (with a $20 co-pay).

Well, with both Aetna and Pacific Care (which really sucks), the annual was covered.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Presumably you have some form of co-pay, from your remarks

And personally, I don't regard 11 years without seeing a doctor as unusual, especially if you're still relatively young. I've only seen a doctor once in the last 18 years, and that was for a insurance-mandated physical. I'm not sure if my doctor would accept me just booking an appointment if I had nothing wrong with me.

[cap]

32. you might start thinking about that...

I come from a long line of folks who didn't see doctors. I almost never saw a doctor when I was growing up 'cept for a mandatory school check up. My parents never saw doctors at all during their adult lives.

My dad dropped dead in the post office at 68. Cause of death unknown. We dont know what he died of because the coroner knew our family and just wrote "heart attack" on the certificate.

My mom was at the drugstore and stuck her arm in a high blood pressure cuff and was surprised by the readings. Did go see a doctor and got on high blood pressure medicine. Managed to survive a quintuple bypass shortly thereafter.

Both of them never saw a dentist until their teeth hurt. By then, it was too late. They both lost teeth and had to wear dentures.

At least, make it easier on the docs in your old age when you will have to see the doctor. Get a healthy baseline. Yeah, it's them telling you what you already know. But they will have a healthy snapshot of your body and its anomalies, if there are any. Around age 40, your body chemistry begins to change. It really makes easier for the doctors to compare.

I have already done a good cardio workup. Two of my sisters are in their 40's and are on blood pressure medication. My parents probably should have started taking those meds at the same time. They would have lived longer. 68 is too young to die these days.

[Vinca]

33. Last year our family spent $127 on health care - it's on the tax form.

Yet the health insurance companies, in their great wisdom, have priced us out of the market for a policy. You can stay healthy and not get sick, but you can't stop aging. Seven years until Medicare.

[triguy46]

35. If you're male and over 50...

You need to join the DRE club! Seriously, prostate cancer should NEVER be a cause of death.

[fed-up]

36. MY BF's 44 YO brother dropped DEAD unexpectedly in early Jan-had just qualified

for health insurance at his trucking job.

Had he had quality affordable health insurance he may have gone in for regular check-ups

We will not know the cause of death for another few weeks, they told us 2-3 months pending toxicology results.

Please have a check-up...

[AZBlue]

37. Preventive medical treatment is cheaper than awaiting a condition to treat it.

It's not only smart for you, it makes sense for insurance companies and the rest of us that are paying premiums.