My Recent Experience With "The Best Healthcare In The World"

[ChoppinBroccoli]

I just wanted to weigh in with one man's opinion, and this just happened yesterday, so it's fresh in my memory. It's not life-altering or a story that's going to move mountains. It's just another story to add to the mountain of others that prove that in this country, we do not, by any stretch of the imagination, have "the best healthcare in the world."

I woke up Thursday morning with a terrible cold. You name it, I had it (from the chest up). Sinus congestion, headache, stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, fluid in the chest, chills, muscle aches, fatigue, the whole nine yards. I was pretty sure it was just a bad cold because a year ago I had the flu (after not getting a flu shot) and it was the worst sickness of my life. This wasn't quite that bad, but it was close. And besides, I actually got a flu shot this year. Thursday night, I got a high fever and spent the entire evening shivering on the couch. That fever broke sometime during the night and I woke up in the morning feeling a bit better.

All day Friday, I felt like I might be getting better. Then Friday night hit, and the fever came back. And it was angry. I never got an accurate reading of just how high it was, but it had to be sky-high because the few times I ventured off the couch, I almost fell down. At one point, I considered the possibility of going to the emergency room and wondered if I might have H1N1 (I wasn't able to get that shot--my wife and kids have all had it, but I haven't). Again, I spent the entire evening on the couch in misery, and once again, I woke up in the morning and the fever seemed to have broken.

By Saturday evening, my wife convinced me to go to the doctor, but since it was Saturday night, I had to go to UrgentCare. The co-pay for UrgentCare is $10.00 higher than it is to see my family doctor, but at this point, I was willing to pay it. I left at 5:00 p.m. and figured I'd be the only one there. When I got there, the waiting room was full. It took 2 hours to get in to see the doctor. The doctor thought he heard some fluid in my lungs and took X-Rays to check for pneumonia. The X-Rays showed no evidence of pneumonia, so the doctor wrote me a prescription for super-strong antibiotics and a super-strong cough medicine. At 7:00 p.m., I called my wife (who had called my phone 4 times wondering where I was) and told her I was on my way to Target to pick up my prescriptions. I got to Target, walked inside, walked back to the pharmacy, and discovered that they close at 6:00 on weekends. So I called my wife and asked her to check the internet for pharmacies open later, because there was no way I was going to suffer through another evening like I had the night before.

After several failed attempts and even more less-than-helpful websites, my wife found a CVS with a 24-hour pharmacy. It was a pretty good drive from where I was, but I was willing to drive it. So by the time I got there, it was about ten minutes to 8:00. I gave the pharmacist my prescriptions and she told me it would be about a 15-minute wait. About 5 minutes later, she calls me back up to the counter and tells me that she can't fill the prescription because the doctor never wrote MY name on it. I told her the UrgentCare was open until 8:00, so she could probably catch them if she called right away, which she did. 5 minutes later, that problem was solved.

Then she realized that that was the first time I'd gotten a prescription filled at CVS and said she needed to take my information. So she took all my info, and then asked for my insurance card. I pulled it out and handed it to her. A few minutes later she looks at the card, frowns, and says, "Um, do you have another card?" I said, "No, that IS the card." She goes to the back and talks to a few other people, comes out and says, "I don't see a prescription drug number on this card." I told her, "I guarantee you I have one because I've been getting prescription drugs at Target for 4 years......with THAT card........and they always cost ten bucks." She frowns again and starts clacking away at her computer. After a good 15 minutes, she informs me that the computer is rejecting the prescription and telling her that I have no prescription drug coverage. I once again assured her that I did, and Target never had any trouble accessing it. She asked if she could call Target to get it and I told her that Target's pharmacy closed at 6:00; that was the only reason I was even there.

Once again, after much typing away at her keyboard, she informed me that my coverage was being rejected, so I would either have to pay full price or just wait until tomorrow and go to Target. I asked her how much full price would be and she told me that it would be $70.00 just for ONE of the prescriptions. So I asked her if she could call the phone number on the back on the insurance card and try to straighten things out with them directly, and she did. She stayed on the phone a good half-hour with UNITED HEALTHCARE (I want everyone to know exactly who we're dealing with here, so for the people in the cheap seats, that's UNITED HEALTHCARE). The woman on the other end of the line........at UNITED HEALTHCARE..........told her she couldn't find an active prescription drug plan for me. She said she checked MedCo, and I didn't have a plan there, but I might have a plan with some other company (the name of which no one ever told me), and she would transfer the pharmacist to their phone system, but she wasn't sure if they were still open. By this time, I could see the writing on the wall. The pharmacist stayed on hold for a good 20 minutes more (much longer than I would have ever remained on the line), only to find out that they didn't have my name in their computer either. So I was sunk. According to.........UNITED HEALTHCARE.......I had NO prescription drug coverage. My only choice was to take my prescriptions, go home, and hope I could make it through the night so I could go to Target (where they, and they alone, apparently know how to access my prescription drug plan) the next day. I called my wife from the parking lot, and I was LIVID. I was getting ready to go home and start preparing lawsuits. That's how hot under the collar I was. Not to mention the fact that I had now been out running around town for the last 4 hours feeling miserable when I should have been home resting.

When I was about halfway home, my wife called and told me that SHE went on the computer to.........UNITED HEALTHCARE'S.......website, and discoverd in about ONE MINUTE of looking that our prescription drug plan was through Catalyst, and she had gotten an 800 number to call. So I told her to call CVS with the new information, and I would be turning around and going back. I found out later that my wife first called CVS, found out they needed about 5 different code numbers which she didn't have (and refused to call the 800 number to get them because they needed my physical prescriptions in their hands to do it), hung up, called the 800 number for Catalyst, GOT those 5 numbers they needed, called CVS AGAIN with those numbers, had them refuse to take the numbers because, again, they didn't have the actual sheets of paper that were my prescriptions in their hands, then called me and had me write the numbers down right on the prescriptions, which I did.

By now, it was almost 10:00 p.m., and I was walking BACK into CVS loaded for bear. The pharmacist sees me, smiles and says, "Aha! You DID have another card!" I told her, "No, I never had another card. Catalyst told my wife that they'd sent us a card in 2007, which they never did. And when my wife told them we've been getting prescription drugs under their plan for well over 4 years despite having never received a card, they said, 'Oh. Well, we'll send you out a new one.'" The pharmacist kind of nodded and then started clacking away at the computer again. By now, I was expecting the worst, so I stayed there until I got confirmation that the computer accepted the code numbers. Shockingly, it did, and 10 minutes later, I had my medicine. The pharmacist apologized profusely about all the trouble. I told her I wasn't mad at her. It was that damn UNITED HEALTHCARE I was mad at. Because the woman who answered the phone either didn't bother to look, or was too stupid to know how to look in the right place, and was content to let me suffer terribly through the night in order to either avoid work or save UNITED HEALTHCARE a few bucks. By the time I got home and took my first dose of medication, it was 10:30 p.m., a full 5.5 hours after I'd left.

Oh, and by the way, this is NOT the first time my wife and I have been given the runaround by UNITED HEALTHCARE. Those bastards had the audacity to send my wife a letter when she was pregnant with our second child and told her that until her OB/GYN agreed to a new contract with UNITED HEALTHCARE, they wouldn't cover her visits. Yeah, it's always a good thing to panic a pregnant woman that you're not going to pay for her visits to the OB/GYN (of which there are MANY when you're pregnant). We found out later from our OB/GYN that UNITED HEALTHCARE was doing this because this particular group of doctors was in a contract dispute with UNITED HEALTHCARE because UNITED HEALTHCARE was trying to basically screw the doctors over, and UNITED HEALTHCARE was using these letters as a tactic to try to get this group doctors' own patients to put pressure on the doctors to bow to UNITED HEALTHCARE's demands. In the end, the contract issue got resolved and none of our OB/GYN visits went uncovered. But it's just another example of what a bunch of lowlifes they are over there at UNITED HEALTHCARE. My wife was literally in a PANIC for quite some time until she found out it was a bullshit negotiating tactic. And let me tell you, panic is not a good state for a pregnant woman to be in.

Now, I ask you does THAT sound like "the best healthcare in the world" to YOU? Does THAT sound like a system you'd be willing to commit violent acts in order to protect? Is this REALLY the best we can do?

And even if you disagree with me on that premise, at the very least, just recognize what a bunch of lowlife bastards UNITED HEALTHCARE are, and refuse to do business with them if you can at all avoid it.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the insurance company I'm talking about here is...........UNITED HEALTHCARE.

[gateley]

1. What a nightmare for you! And could you please tell us the insurance company's name?

:evilgrin:

This is such bullshit - there is no way we should be boinged around like pinballs just trying to get what we PAY for! :grr:

How are you feeling now? :pals:

[Zoeisright]

2. And the CEO of UNITED HEALTHCARE makes $120 MILLIION a year.

Fucking pig.

[TxVietVet]

43. Just for fucking over sick people............

for profit. :evilgrin: Ain't American greed grand? :mad:

[Mark D.]

52. Actually

According to Thom Hartmann, this CEO and the prior, in under a decade, made combined 1.5 to 2 BILLION dollars (can't remember which one). WellPoint (Blue Cross) made near record profits last year, and based on that, is raising rates as much as 39% in various states. I am so sick and tired of folks saying lowering medical costs fixes it all. Insurers are clearing more and more after paying those costs, and instead of using those profits to maintain or even lower premiums/copays/deductibles, they do the opposite. Like Dennis says, until they take the profit out of it, they won't really fix it.

[activa8tr]

3. CVS used to sell me a prescription for $60 and Wallmart now sells me

the same drug for $4 for a 30 day supply. THE SAME DRUG>!!!

CVS has to be the biggest rip-off in the retail pharmacy industry.

[emilyg]

8. Even Kroger is cheaper

than CVs.

[TxVietVet]

44. CVS bought Caremark

so they can jerk you around on the drug purchases. I have Catalyst/IPS. Not the sharpest bunch. My wife has to deal with them because if I get to arguing with them, I'd call them 'no good crooked motherfuckers!' and she would be so embarrassed.

I pay a ton of money through my union contract for health insurance. It's costing more for less. I have to pay more out of pocket. A fucking ripoff.

[Hissyspit]

4. You have insurance?

Lucky. :evilgrin:

[liberalhistorian]

38. No kidding. Hubby and I don't have insurance

'cause his job doesn't offer it, despite how hard he works, so we have to pay for everything, including prescriptions, out of pocket. And, even though we're in reasonably good health with no major or chronic illnesses, because we're in our mid-40's (me) and mid-50's (him), we can't find a decent individual plan that won't bankrupt us each month before ever covering anything with such horrendously high deductibles. so, now we're just hoping and praying that our good health continues, that neither one of us gets injured or in an accident, or suddenly ill or cancer or anything like that. 'Cause if it does happen, we're screwed financially for the rest of our lives.

[ChicagoSuz219]

5. Hope you're feeling better...

Another shining example:

I met a guy the other nite who lost parts of 3 fingers (& was electrocuted!) in an accident at work. They rushed him to the hospital with the 3 parts in a bag with ice. They were able to re-attach two of them and said it was because that's all they had. Later, after it was too late, someone found the bag with the remaining middle finger in it.

At least, you can still flip them off! He wound up having some kind of PTSD mental breakdown & had to be hospitalized for several months.

On the plus side, the place he worked did have Worker's Comp & because Tort hasn't been Reformed yet, he can still sue the sh*t out of the hospital. He'll need the money since he won't be able to work in his job anymore.

[Ms. Toad]

35. Actually, if Worker's Comp is available, you give up your

right to sue. That's part of the trade-off - has been since at least the early 80s. You get your bills paid, no hassle, but you can't sue on top of the bill payments.

[obxhead]

59. He may not be able to sue the company,

but he should be able to sue the hospital for incompetence. I may be wrong, just my 2 cents worth.

[Ms. Toad]

63. You're probably right on that. n/t

[prolesunited]

6. Well my COBRA expired today

and I can't get healthcare because I have multiple pre-existing conditions so I guess I'm lucky

[upi402]

11. That suck so bad. I'm sorry to hear that

I'm fighting... for us all. I will be there soon. I don't know if I can afford mine. My wife is from a developing country and thinks the medical care is worthless here. She wants to wait until we can afford the big airfare and get to quality care. Me too.

[annabanana]

14. Bunning:

http://bunning.senate.gov/public/

[IADEMO2004]

34. If you have a couple months to apply ICHIP is there.

http://www.chip.state.il.us/appcentral.htm

Our diabetic son is on ICHIP @ $500/mo His only choice while in college.

[Egnever]

7. CVS Blows

A lot of your trouble was from them not from united health care. Not that united health care doesn't suck but they had no problem paying your prescription or your visit to urgent care. The fact that you were willing and able to drive yourself around all over town makes it sound as though it really wasn't that urgent to begin with.

I understand the frustration I really do but in this particular case it doesn't sound like united health care did anything wrong.

Sounds more like you weren't happy with the wait at the urgent care facility, why you would think it would be slow after normal business hours is beyond me, thats pretty much when I would expect them to busiest.

It also sounds like you ran into CVS lovely half wit pharmacy staff. I have my scripts at CVS currently and my son has a standing script they fuck up every other month. I should have moved our scrips long ago but its such a hassle I haven't bothered.

Just saying the health insurance industry is full of evil BS but in your particular case today I think the insurance end is blameless.

[Go2Peace]

9. In most countries this would have been simpler.

I understand what you are saying, but *it is* the system. If you were in a universal system there would be less concern about payment. There would be only one price for the prescription, so they would ask the same co-pay regardless, (if there was one), and all they would need would be ID. They would not need to worry about letting you out the door and getting stuck with the difference if they made a mistake. And they could fix it in the morning.

[bc3000]

55. Woah....

Did you actually read the post?

The pharmacist gets on the phone with his health care provider for a half an hour and the health care provider can't provide information about the insurance he pays for in that time and you say they are blameless?

Comcast has the worst customer service I've ever seen and even they can find records of the plan I pay for in a few moments. You think that the insurance company's inability to look up customer information after a half hour is acceptable? Tell me one other industry that would find that acceptable.

[upi402]

10. Republicans lie -but their sheeple never leave the country and don't know

Republican admirers are so damn provincial. IF they go anywhere it's on an insulating cruise ship, or to a tourist destination. They never really leave the holy bubble.

[NickB79]

12. I can sorta top that (not that this is a competition)

My wife found out during her first ultrasound for our first child that she had ovarian cysts. Her OBGYN told her that she had to have them removed, pronto. The doctor consulted a neonatal surgical specialist, and both concurred that not removing them could put my wife at a very high risk of miscarriage or complications later on. So, at 3 months along she had laparoscopic surgery to remove them. She had SIX dermoid cysts, ranging in size from a chicken egg to one monster the size of a baseball! Let me repeat: she had SIX of these inside of her! The surgery went well, and she recovered rapidly; the next day she was released and was back to work in 4 days.

A couple of months later, we get a phone call from our surgeon, informing us that BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MASSACHUSETTS was denying our claim and refusing to pay any of the bills. He tells us he would be making some phone calls to see what he could do to sort this all out and gets back to us a few days later. The surgeon had used a DaVinci robotic assistant to do the operation. This was one of the reasons the operation went so smoothly. This apparently wasn't covered by BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MASSACHUSETTS. What they would have covered was if the doctor had sliced my wife open like a fish from sternum to pelvis. Suffice to say, this infuriated our doctor and he began to call and write on a weekly basis. See, the thing is that the DaVinci robot was DONATED to the hospital by a wealthy patron, and the hospital is nice enough to allow surgeons to use it free of charge. What our surgeon did was SAVE BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD tens of thousands of dollars in hospitalization bills by using the best possible tools for the job. Eventually, he does get paid, the anesthesiologist gets paid, the pathologist gets paid, and everything looks like it's taken care of.

Then we get a bill in the mail from the hospital for $28,000.

:wow:

Despite paying all of the people involved in the surgery, those fuckers at BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MASSACHUSETTS are still refusing to pay the hospital itself where the surgery was carried out.

We're still fighting them on this, with the help of our surgeon. We've filed a grievance with BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD, sent them all of our medical records and letters from our surgeon detailing why he chose the methods he did. I've contacted HR at work to see what assistance they can give me, and now we just have to see what happens.

If we can't fight them and win, I don't know how we would be able to pay off that bill. I could possibly beg my grandmother for money since she is very wealthy, but it would kill me to ask her that. I put myself through college, I paid my own down payment on a house, I paid for our wedding myself. Asking my family for money is something I have never wanted to do in my life. We could possibly work out a payment plan, but there goes any savings we could put away for our daughter's future for many years to come.

[1776Forever]

13. Sorry for your run around - This does remind me of the mortgage swapping. How can they do this?

I know we had 3 different mortgage holders a few years back before we lost our home. Never did figure out who really ended up with it! Deutsche Bank said they had it in the end but whether they did or not I will never know. I never knew a Health Care Insurance plan could send the prescription part of it off to another company. Wonder if Congress ever looked into that?

[voteearlyvoteoften]

15. Fuckers!

Worst of all they deliberately obstruct access and routinely keep you in the phone hold hell until you just give up.
ps Hope you are feeling better:)

[LiberalCatholic]

16. My story

My turn...

When my youngest son was born he was diagnosed with a "very large" VSD (a hole in his heart. We were told that fall that he should have Synagis, a monthly shot to prevent RSV which he was in danger of getting and which could be dangerous given his health condition. Well, UNITED HEALTHCARE approved the shots immediately. Great, right?

Each month I took my infant to his doctor's office where a nurse would give him two shots. Then three weeks later I would get the UNITED HEALTHCARE statement that would say one shot was in network and one shot was out of network (always the more expensive). So I would call and 40 minutes later get someone on the phone (I timed it) and be told that they would submit the complaint. Then I would get the second notice and it would say that my complaint had been denied. So I'd call back and tell them that this was a scam and that my father (a lawyer) would be happy to issue a lawsuit. I would Tell them that they had one more shot to re-submit but if this was denied that I would call the attorney general and then sue. Magically it always got approved.

What drives me crazy is that the statement is that we have wonderful health care. Well, I do. My husband, children and I all have wonderful doctors and we have access to wonderful hospitals (two of my children are patients at Boston Children's, my Dad at Mass General). This debate is not about my doctors- it's about WHO PAYS THEM... I think that the government should. I see no reason why I have to pay Blue Cross to pay my doctors (who somehow I still end up paying). And if the powers that be have decided that Blue Cross needs to be in the mix then I SHOULD GET TO BUY MY OWN INSURANCE. Have my employer pay some, give me a voucher for some and I'll pay the rest but LET ME CHOOSE. Because ChoppinBroccoli and I should have the ability to FIRE UNITED HEALTHCARE!!!!!

Thanks for letting me rant- I still get mad thinking about it (6 years later!!!!~)

[renate]

17. grrrrr, how frustrating!.... and welcome to DU!

Hope you and your son haven't had to deal with either hospitals or your insurance company too often since then.

[LiberalCatholic]

21. thanks

Thank you. I've been lurking around for a while. You guys kept me sane during the Bush years!!! I'm glad to be weighing in now.

[LiberalCatholic]

22. oops

And thank you also for askingabout my son. He is now a crazy active six (almost 7) year old who is the healthiest one in our family!!!! My husband and I laugh about how he's the "sickly one" as he chases his 13 year old brother!!!

[kctim]

18. The problem

is that this experience is not the norm and nothing will change until it is.

[knitter4democracy]

19. What amazes me is how common that experience is.

Yet, there are those--who can nod and agree and tell their own stories, mind you--who will then vociferously defend our healthcare system as the best in the world. They can't wrap their brains around the idea that other countries have it easier. It blows my mind.

[Vinca]

20. What is this strange "insurance" you speak of??

Hope you're feeling better. Another issue might be the prescribing of antibiotics without knowing whether what you had was viral or bacterial. But that's another issue altogether.

[CLANG]

23. What Insurance Company was it?

:shrug:

[handmade34]

24. hope your feeling better

...my story is, oh, just another story about a dysfunctional system (mine is about Blue Cross Blue Shield). ...end of story is that I no longer have insurance. But I do believe we have the best healthcare in the world -if you have excess MONEY!


"There's a huge triage involved in getting in," says Caplan. "If you're a homeless alcoholic sleeping on the streets of L.A., and you're going toe-to-toe with Steve Jobs, you're going to lose."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/24/liver.transplant.priority.lists/index.html

[snot]

25. And no one talks about the COUNTLESS hours wasted dealing with all this, during which

we and others could be doing something more productive!

I too have had terrible experiences with United Healthcare -- in one instance, I suspect they were actually getting a kickback. I don't trust them one bit.

[harmonicon]

26. that about sums up the main reason why I hope to never have to move back to the US

(or not until the US has a first-world healthcare system). Here in the UK, the last time I got a prescription, I walked to the nearest pharmacy and paid my £7.50 (what any and all prescriptions cost, unless you get them while admitted to a hospital, in which case they're free). There probably isn't a 24 hour pharmacy near me, but that likely wouldn't matter, because the pharmacy is open many hours later than the doctors' office. If I'd gone to the ER they would have given me the drugs on the spot if they thought it was that serious (unfortunately I've made many ER visits here in the last year with my girlfriend, who eventually had to get "free" emergency surgery - that's a whole other mess of stories, almost all completely positive).

[wysi]

28. Same here.

I'd never even consider coming back without single payer. Having lived under the US system and various single payer systems, there is no contest.

[wysi]

27. I'm an American living in New Zealand...

I can bring my prescriptions into any pharmacy anywhere in this country and pay only the subsidized price. No cards, no hassle, walk out ten minutes later with the meds.

Anyone in the US who isn't part of the insurance industry but who is against single payer needs their head examined.

[eecumings]

53. Another

American living abroad. I am a Canadian immigrant. I would not return to America for any reason. Our health care systems are run by the provinces with funding from the federal and provincial governments. I have a doctor I can see any time, either my own or the one on call at the emergency clinic. I may have wait times, but I had those in America. Every person in Canada has a health card. That card pays for my health care. I pay $15 per perscription (in the US, some of those drugs cost nearly $200). I have no co-pays or deductibles. If I have any problems with health care, I can present the problem to our province's health board (never had to do that). I get this care even though I live in one of Canada's smallest provinces. America may have outstanding health care facilities, but it has the worst delivery system of any industrialized country on earth. And will have as long as health care is rationed by insurance companies.

[shellgame26]

60. and another

...living in Taiwan for 4 years now. I paid $US30 for surgery last year. I'm never coming back.

[multidoc666]

29. You are big part of what is wrong with american healthcare, not (for once) UHC

First of all you decide to see a medical doctor immediately -- because you have a bad cold or flu. That's NOT an emergency situation. You are overloading the system.

Then you complain because your copay to get emergency treatment is $10, which is more than your regular doctor. $10 to get an emergency consultation for a cold or flu? What a whiner. You had to wait two hours on a Saturday night to see a doctor? That's most likely because there were so many other people who didn't need emergency care ahead of you.

Next, you don't even know who your insurance company for drugs is? So several other people spend hours trying to find out information that takes your wife a few minutes. You should be ashamed of yourself.

You could have paid for the drugs and then filed the claim forms yourself to whoever your insurance company was to get reimbursed. Apparently this was too much trouble for you; you preferred to not get the medications at all, another example of how sick you weren't.

You demand immediate treatment for a condition that doesn't require it, are willing to pay next to nothing for it, and are willing to take hours of other people's time to find information that you ought to have on you. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, buddy. This was not UHC's fault, but your own.

[mudplanet]

32. Yea, that's it. Sick people are what's wrong with US healthcare

Why the fuck do I even need to know who "my insurance company for drugs" is. Why the fuck do I need an insurance company, or two, or three in between me and seeing a doctor and getting medicine because I think I may have pneumonia and then have to spend an hour convincing a pharmacist that, in fact, I am worthy of having that life saving medicine?

I work with the elderly and it often takes one to two weeks to get their diabetes test strips FROM THE SAME PHARMACY THAT THEY HAVE BEEN GETTING THEM FROM FOR YEARS. And the pharmacist can't tell us what's going on. "I've called and they haven't called back," is the most common excuse. And I've shopped around pharmacies including, from worst to best, Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, Alberstons.

And when I'm there to pick up there medicine it's not unusual to have some old guy asking how much the prescriptions are going to cost, and then deciding he'll just do without his diabetes medicine or his blood pressure medicine because he just can't afford it. And the elderly people that I work with that I discover having only been taking HALF THEIR MEDICINE for weeks because they can't afford it.

I thing the person that ought to be ashamed here is the asshole that thinks things are fine just the way they are.

[harmonicon]

33. and you are part of what is wrong with humanity.

Enjoy your short, bile-fueled stay.

[fascisthunter]

36. poor poor insurance companies

bad, bad patients... how dare they demand decent Healthcare. Get off the high horse buddy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. BULLSHIT

any other advanced economy has a health care system that ahem WORKS.

And one where this does not happen

Enjoy your stay buddy.

Oh and by the way, a simple cold can develop some nasty complications some of which, rarely mind you, are fatal.

Oh and I forgot to say... you are what is wrong with this country, some assholes who have no fucking clue.

Go get a passport and travel around the world and ahem educate yourself.

[Mother Of Four]

47. Do you even know how to read?

I suppose not, let me parse this for you "Multidoc"

Guy is sick and fighting an illness for about 5 days, not getting better but getting worse. Three separate episodes of fever, one so bad that he could barely walk.

His appointment didn't cost 10.00, it was 10.00 more than the copay for his regular doctor.

He went to Urgent Care, not the ER. Urgent care is for people who need to be seen, very soon. Let me repeat. Urgent care, not Emergency Care.

PRIOR TO THIS He had never had an issue with getting prescriptions filled, no need to carry any other info. How the holy hand-grenades is he supposed to know that he needed not one, but FIVE separate numbers from an insurance company that was so inept they didn't even know who their prescription carrier was? One with their heads up their butts so far, that none..I repeat NONE of their so called CS reps could find the information?

Also, since you want to be a total donkey about this. Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe he didn't have 70.00 per prescription to spend?

I see that you have "Doc" in your name, well my darling dear I'm very glad that none of the Doctors I've ever worked with are as heartless as you seem to be. Or as ignorant of what the layperson has to go through when something screws up either financially or physically.

It is his RIGHT to be seen when he needs to be seen, by WHO he needs to be seen by. He pays his insurance company to take care of situations like this, every month money goes into their wallet from him. It doesn't matter one bit that it only took his wife a few minutes to find the information. The fact is she shouldn't have had to do it. The people he PAYS to manage his health care bills, should have been earning their money and knowing their jobs.

[likesmountains 52]

48. There is a lot wrong with your post...but the main point I'll make is that he did NOT

seek emergency care for this...he went to an Urgent Care which is where people go if they can't get a regular doctor's appointment...he did NOT go to an emergency room. I have worked for 30 years in health care and still feel confused about my insurance coverage, rx plans, copays etc. Try figuring it all out when you're sick.

[1monster]

30. Paging Dave Caroll and Sons of Maxwell... His beef was with a corp also named United!

Revenge done right has the sweet taste of justice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg

[glinda]

31. k&R this into cyberspace

[varelse]

37. K&R

[ChazInAz]

40. Precisely.

We have UNITED HEALTH CARE, also. Provided through one of the largest employers in Tucson. You'd think an enormous hospital such as my workplace would negotiate with insurance companies for the best coverage for the staff. Naww...too much work. When my wife contracted c-diff last year, the abysmal care wound up nearly killing her and bankrupted us.

[Hawkeye-X]

58. Largest employers in Tucson..

Umm.. Davis-Monthan AFB?

Hawkeye-X

[midnight]

41. We just switched to united healthcare... This does not sound promising...

[defendandprotect]

42. We're 37th in the world in health care . . . but great health care for the RICH!!

Did the medicine work?

I got a super-antibiotic at one time after asking the doctor to give me Ampicillin which

I was familiar with and knew it caused no problems for me --

Nah, couldn't do that --

Gave me this crap for $125 dollars -- didn't work -- went to another doctor got

7 days of Ampicillin for $11 and it immediately worked!!

Doctors peddling expensive drugs!!

[ChoppinBroccoli]

51. Yes, The Medicine Seems To Have Worked

Saturday night, slept like a baby. Sunday night, also slept well. Woke up Monday morning still feeling a bit sick, but much better than before. At this rate, I'll be over everything but the cough in just a couple of days (my coughs always hang around for like 3 weeks after the cold is gone).

The super-antibiotic they gave me was Augmentin (the doctor said it was, "like souped-up Amoxicillin.") It upsets my stomach (the first prescription drug I've taken that ever has, so it must be strong), so I have to take it with food. And the cough medicine has codeine in it, so I'm not allowed to drive after taking it. It didn't knock me out as badly as I thought it would, but I did get very tired. My body has a natural resistance to just about everything, so I have to get really strong stuff in order to feel the side effects (for example, when I was in Law School, I was having trouble staying alert in my afternoon classes, so I started taking "No Doz." The first day I took one tab and felt nothing, the next day two, the next day three. By the following week, I was up to 6 tabs of No Doz and still falling asleep in class. That's how high my body tolerance is. Then one day I took an entire sheet of them (8 tabs) and felt stoned. After that, I gave up on No Doz.) My body is the same way with sickness. I only get sick about once a year, but when I do, it's a doozy.

Believe me, I'm a big believer in the whole idea of the body healing itself. I've got to be pretty close to death's door before I'll consider seeing a doctor for what I consider an ordinary cold. I also have a weird thing I do now (I don't want to call it a "tradition," it's just something I do because it worked several years ago) where I don't do anything to reduce my fevers. Several years ago, I was very sick, had an incredibly high fever, and just let it burn through the night. When I woke up in the morning, I was fine. I think the fever killed the virus, so the one night of suffering made me better much more quickly. So, to this day, I almost never do anything to bring my fevers down (in the hope that they'll kill off whatever's making me sick). Obviously, it didn't work this time, so I needed the drugs.

[eagertolearn]

45. Someone needs to publish a book with all these stories about how terrible our insurance

industry is. Everyone has one. I am so tired of people who respond to my concerns about our current problems with health care (health insurance) with the one story they have about how terrible the Canadian system is (according to one friend). But we have so many more terrible stories to tell. Most of these people also tell me "these peope just need to go out and get a job". Do you know where they are hearing this from??? Their churches! Aren't churches supposed to be about helping people in need? I think they have been bought out!!!!!

[Lifelong Protester]

46. I am so sorry that you had to go through this, believe me

I have had that same type of illness, so bad on a weekend I actually go to the doctor, so the whole time I am reading your piece I am feeling that hot stuffed up absolutely miserable feeling. So right off the bat, you have all my sympathy.

My health insurance is good, but I have to say, this control over prescription drugs is getting ridiculous. My spouse takes two meds for heart health, has taken them for years, and neither of them would be a 'hot' commodity on the open market, if you get my drift.But for some reason, we now have to get the scripts filled once a month, instead of once every 60 days. It is a fifty mile round trip to get these meds.

Spouse thinks the insurance folks worry that they MAY accidentally pay for 60 days of a prescription, only to have you die in 30 days, so there would be 30 days of unused and paid for drugs 'wasted'. I should mention that these drugs are super cheap generics, so really.

Yeah, I'm really worked up about keeping the status quo.

[one_voice]

49. How horrible for you!

I hope you're feeling a bit better now.

My husband has insurance through his job, it's United Health care. I already knew the horror stories about this insurance company. What I wasn't prepared for was the cost for such shitty insurance. For a pretty basic plan (not a really any bells and whistles) for my husband and my son (not covering me) it's well over $600 month.

My husband's salary is decent, and by decent I mean we can pay the bills and buy food. No fancy living here. Not too mention he works around 65 hours a week so if you break it down he doesn't make squat. But I'm not complaining, at least he's working.

I don't know why these ass hats think a family of four who's income is around $60,000 can afford $800 a month for health insurance. It would be slightly under $800 if my husband covered me too. That's a damn mortgage/rent payment. Since when does health insurance cost what a mortgage/rent costs?

We soooo need single payer or a public option.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

50. they all suck and you're getting screwed but not enjoying it

If I had health insurance, I'd be pissed. Meanwhile, they will probably drop another million people
so they can increase profits and it will be less work to deny coverage.

[MrMickeysMom]

54. You know, everything you described about UNITED HEALTHCARE had little to do with...

ACTUAL HEALTH CARE, and MORE to do with ADMINISTRATIVE BULLSHIT THAT HAS FUCKED UP HEALTH CARE.

The administrators--------JUST---------DON'T--------CARE, cause they're still under the making widgets model and fucking with people's lives.... but you know that already. I feel sorry for the people who's care is centered around WHO WILL PAY, HOW THEY WILL PAY, OR IF THEY WILL PAY.

As a licensed practitioner in this system, I can't even find out who in my own behemoth health care system can tell me how much they can bill for a given procedure that I DO and that I'm trying to do better. If it doesn't make enough money in the outpatient setting, why the fuck should they answer my question? I can do everything in my power to deliver my services under this ineffective model, but I can't change the way it's administered itself. I'm tethered to the same rudderless clusterfuck the poor patient is or the doctor who's trying to get my services to the patient.

I hate what we're willing to allow to pass as a health care and the people who are enabling it's dismal future in Congress.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

62. Thank You. I Think You Just Nailed Where This Debate Gets Bogged Down

When people puff out their chests and bellow that America has the best healthcare in the world, they probably mean we have the best care GIVERS in the world. OK, that's arguable, but I have an extremely high amount of respect for doctors. You'll notice I didn't have a single bad thing to say about the healthcare PROFESSIONAL who saw me. I think our DOCTORS are top notch. I know many doctors personally and even have a few in my extended family, and to a one, they're all good people, brilliantly smart, competent, hard-working, and I don't begrudge them a single bit of what they achieve in life.

Where the system bogs down is in the DELIVERY of that healthcare. Where the suits and the bean-counters and the "how does this affect our bottom line"-ers get involved. THAT'S the arm of the machine that drags the whole healthcare system down.

As I said in a post several months ago, the failure of the American Healthcare System is the "for profit" model. When you turn your country's healthcare over to a private, for-profit corporation, that corporation has ONE interest that trumps all others: Profit. And how do insurance companies make money? By writing a bunch of checks? No, the insurance companies ONLY make money by DENYING people's claims. The more claims they deny, the more money they get to keep for themselves. So it's a matter of simple logic that if the people who are to decide your medical fate determine that your death is more profitable than your continued life............guess what's going to happen to you.

That doesn't sound like "The Best Healthcare in the world" to me. That sounds like Sarah Palin's "Death Panels" to me.

[MrMickeysMom]

64. I'll give you 3 hallelujahs and one amen for that!

Clearly, we're on the same page!

[Citizen Worker]

56. then there are the European pharmicies

Earlier this month my cousin's wife and son flew to Spain to visit family. In their haste to get to the airport the carry on bag containing various prescription drugs was left behind. On his return home the husband remembered the carry on. When he arrived home he opened the bag and called his sister-in-law in Madrid to give her a list of what the spouse would need. No problem said the sister. I will go to the pharmacy and get them replaced.

My own experience in Turkey is similar. While on holiday two years ago I contracted an upper respiratory infection. I walked into a pharmacy and spoke with the pharmacist. He asked me to describe the symptoms, turned to the shelves behind him and handed me a box of Azithromycin with instructions on taking the medication. If there wasn't an improvement by the next day I was to return. By the way, the Z-Pak, as they're known here, was a scant $8.00. Here it's $47.00 or it was the last time I made a purchase, probably more, much more, now.

Aren't those foreign countries so backward and don't we have "the best healthcare in the world?"

[Foo Fighter]

57. Oh man, what a nightmare.

Dragging your ass around to the doc and then couple of different pharmacies when you're sick as hell is NO FUN AT ALL. Been there, done that. Luckily for me, my health care provider (hereinafter abbreviated as HCP) has an in-house pharmacy so that saves a HUGE hassle. When you're sick as a dog, it's a battle even dragging yourself to the doc's office. Luckily, my HCP knows that, hence the in-house pharmacy. I'm sorry your HCP couldn't provide the same for you.

How are you feeling now? I hope you're doing better. I'm sure the hassle you went through didn't help your health situation at all.

Since everyone else has been pitching in, here's my story. A couple of years ago, in searching down the source of a lung problem, one of the specialists I was seeing discovered the cartilage in my nose greatly restricted my breathing. It was a congenital defect and I had never complained about it because, well, like he said, I had never known any difference. At any rate, that wasn't the issue we were looking into at the time but he said that once they got that sorted out, I should have surgery to take care of the problem with the cartilage in my nose.

I had other things to deal with in the meantime but eventually brought it up with my doc in my annual physical. (My HCP requires annual physicals at no cost to me. They even waive the co-pay.) My doc (who is awesome, BTW) discussed it with me to determine the nature of the problem and referred me to a surgeon.

The surgeon I'm referred to is excellent. He's very congenial and straight-forward in that he informs me this will be a difficult surgery due to the complexity. I kin of expected that going in but we both agree it will be a huge benefit to me to be able actually breathe decently through my nose. (Wow! What a concept!) Would this change the appearance of my nose? Absolutely. Would my nose look better afterwords. Very probably. But it wasn't a "nose job" per se. It was a medical procedure to improve my breathing (or rather, actually allow me to breathe) that happens to alter the appearance of my nose. We have a couple of visits or so and he sets everything up for the surgery but says I'll need to check with my HCP to make sure it's covered. I call them and they had all the info (electronically) and said the procedure absolutely would be covered as they deemed it a medical necessity. No question.

I have the surgery (total cost to me; $0) and get a couple of prescriptions afterwards. The hospital pharmacy couldn't find the info on my prescription coverage so I was billed for full price. When I got the bill in the mail, I called them and gave them the info for my prescription coverage (which I was too goofed-up post-surgery to be able to give them) and they apologized for the error, told me to ignore the bill I had received and sent me another bill for the $8 co-pays on my 'scripts. I had a few follow-ups with the surgeon. The first one or two or so were free and any others had a $10 co-pay. So, aside from a few co-pays which I'm sure came to less than $100 total, I paid nothing.

The result? Holy crap! I can breathe through my nose! I can actually be active feeling like I was dying to breathe!! Has my HCP benefited? Most definitely. I had a total of ONE visit to my HCP this year for a virus. In prior years, I had numerous visits for all sorts of upper respiratory problems. These days, I can bust my ass at the local health club without struggling to breathe. My overall health is WAY better than it's ever been. And that, the way my HCP sees it, is what's important.

So, who is my HCP? A NON-PROFIT HMO. Let me state that again. It's a NON-PROFIT HMO. Take the damn profit out of medical care and EVERYONE could have the same coverage as me. And everyone DESERVES the same coverage as me. And believe me, I didn't post this to gloat about my great coverage while others out there have none at all. Hell, I actually feel guilty that I have the coverage that I do which is provided by my NON-PROFIT HMO. No, nothing pisses me off more than people that have NO ACCESS to health care when there is absolutely NO EXCUSE why this country can't provide that for them. NONE. I posted this to demonstrate that it's entirely possible to provide absolutely top-notch medical care to everyone once you get rid of the concept that some fat-cat execs have the RIGHT to PROFIT off of what they sell as "health care" which is nothing more than a system set up to force people to pay premiums while denying them coverage in order to increase the profit margins.

Again, my coverage is with a NON-PROFIT HMO and I couldn't ask for better coverage. Absolutely every single person in this country deserves the same. NO DAMN EXCUSES. We need SINGLE-PAYER and we need it NOW. Anything less is nothing more than a sell-out to the health care execs at the expense of the poor and working class.

[activa8tr]

61. I found this excellent web site for drug price and effectiveness comparisons

I was clued into this by a show on Free Speech TV today.

Evidently, many expensive prescriptions are unnecessary, and alternative generics are most often cheaper.
Well, yes, we know this, but does your doctor?

http://www.consumerreports.org/health/best-buy-drugs/index.htm

My $4 a month drug is listed there with others of equal effectiveness costing $200 a month!