Healthcare. Part 1
Healthcare in America. 70% of Americans are happy with their health insurance. But as the saying goes, figures lie and liars figure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072101677.html
Again, having just gone through a tiny bit of what many people life with on a daily, yearly basis, I have this to say. My father had little to do with doctors. The only time he ever went was when it was life threatening, or severely painful. He never went for check ups or any preventative treatments. In some ways, that's a good thing. He was on no medications other than a daily Tylenol or two, and a self prescribed baby aspirin for the last 10 years. When asked what medications he was on, no one believed that that was all he took, because the doctors convince most people you have to be on this, that or the other thing. Because it makes money, IMHO.
My father had health insurance that he paid for out of pocket. It was I think @135. a month 20 years ago, but I cant recall exactly. When he began collecting Social Security, he went on Medicare, and then because Medicare doesn't cover everything, they have limit on everything it seems, he also got supplemental insurance from Tufts, which originally was offered all over the state, but lately was cut way back and you could only get it in certain counties (dont' ask me why). This cost him $70.00 a month, but did not cover any drugs. He chose that because he didn't use any and didn't plan to. lol.
Through all the treatments and visits that have been made since December, I doubt my father spent over $1000.00 That includes his emergency room visit, his two hospital stays (although there may be one bill outstanding on the last visit, but it should be no more than $200.) The
Visiting Nurse care, the outpatient equipment, the cancer treatments including transfusions, chemotherapy and radiation, innumerable PET scans, X-rays, and the Hospice care. The bill for his Dec. hospital stay alone was $15,000. The Chemo treatments went for @ $300. each, and just the doctor check in was around $150. That's not even factoring in the last hospital stay, the heart doctor he went to a few times, the surgeon he went to for checks on his handywork, and the radiation treatment.
So was he happy with his Insurance? Your goddam right he was.
If he hadn't had that supplemental out of pocket insurance, would he have been as happy? I highly doubt it. So while Medicare helps, it wouldn't keep him from basic bankruptcy if he had to rely only on it. I guess if he had to pay the bills, he wouldn't have gone for the radiation or chemo treatments. That's my guess. And the outcome was the same. So ponder that. $70,000. maybe for a 50/50 shot at survival.
So after watching all this go on, I have some suggestions for the medical community for saving money.
Hospice: When my father was signed up for Hospice care, they knew he was dying. They dropped off a 'comfort pack', a little gray plastic ziplock back of stuff that may be needed. Of the drugs in the pack, the only thing we used was the morphine, and we only ended up using exactly what they had in the bottle. When the nurse was doing her paperwork after my father died, she had to account for all the drugs in the comfort pack. Anything that was not used was thrown out. Now, these were small amounts of pills and drugs, but WHY were they thrown out? First off, they used on DYING patients, so god forbid they were tampered with, what's the worst they can do? Kill you? Second, why are they not in sealed packs, so that if they are unopened, they should be returned to Hospice and put in the next comfort pack? What a waste!!!
Medical equipment: When we were in one doctor's office, they needed a fine wire for a procedure. They had this big bagged tray thing, which they opened up and removed the one or two things they needed, then they threw out the remainder of the contents, which included a sterile and unused pair of scissors, and a few other medical implements. How asinine. Pre-packed items are one of the biggest wastes. They give you everything when you only need one item. Sort of like getting a Big Mac at McDonald's with a package that includes a straw,napkin, knife, fork and spoon, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, mayo, and salad dressing. When all you really wanted was the napkin and the salt.
When we got a monthly shipment for the food supplies for my father, they sent EVERYTHING!. We have gloves up the ying yang, extra gauze we never needed. This that and the other thing. We had to tell them to stop, because they just sent it every time the first few months. We finally got it down to just what we needed, which was good.
Prevention: I think my father's second hospital stay could have been prevented if his doctor had listened to our concerns about his temperature change and coughing, and at least had sent him in for an X-ray. Maybe not, but I think it would have.
I can't think anymore. I'll get back to more of this later.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072101677.html
Again, having just gone through a tiny bit of what many people life with on a daily, yearly basis, I have this to say. My father had little to do with doctors. The only time he ever went was when it was life threatening, or severely painful. He never went for check ups or any preventative treatments. In some ways, that's a good thing. He was on no medications other than a daily Tylenol or two, and a self prescribed baby aspirin for the last 10 years. When asked what medications he was on, no one believed that that was all he took, because the doctors convince most people you have to be on this, that or the other thing. Because it makes money, IMHO.
My father had health insurance that he paid for out of pocket. It was I think @135. a month 20 years ago, but I cant recall exactly. When he began collecting Social Security, he went on Medicare, and then because Medicare doesn't cover everything, they have limit on everything it seems, he also got supplemental insurance from Tufts, which originally was offered all over the state, but lately was cut way back and you could only get it in certain counties (dont' ask me why). This cost him $70.00 a month, but did not cover any drugs. He chose that because he didn't use any and didn't plan to. lol.
Through all the treatments and visits that have been made since December, I doubt my father spent over $1000.00 That includes his emergency room visit, his two hospital stays (although there may be one bill outstanding on the last visit, but it should be no more than $200.) The
Visiting Nurse care, the outpatient equipment, the cancer treatments including transfusions, chemotherapy and radiation, innumerable PET scans, X-rays, and the Hospice care. The bill for his Dec. hospital stay alone was $15,000. The Chemo treatments went for @ $300. each, and just the doctor check in was around $150. That's not even factoring in the last hospital stay, the heart doctor he went to a few times, the surgeon he went to for checks on his handywork, and the radiation treatment.
So was he happy with his Insurance? Your goddam right he was.
If he hadn't had that supplemental out of pocket insurance, would he have been as happy? I highly doubt it. So while Medicare helps, it wouldn't keep him from basic bankruptcy if he had to rely only on it. I guess if he had to pay the bills, he wouldn't have gone for the radiation or chemo treatments. That's my guess. And the outcome was the same. So ponder that. $70,000. maybe for a 50/50 shot at survival.
So after watching all this go on, I have some suggestions for the medical community for saving money.
Hospice: When my father was signed up for Hospice care, they knew he was dying. They dropped off a 'comfort pack', a little gray plastic ziplock back of stuff that may be needed. Of the drugs in the pack, the only thing we used was the morphine, and we only ended up using exactly what they had in the bottle. When the nurse was doing her paperwork after my father died, she had to account for all the drugs in the comfort pack. Anything that was not used was thrown out. Now, these were small amounts of pills and drugs, but WHY were they thrown out? First off, they used on DYING patients, so god forbid they were tampered with, what's the worst they can do? Kill you? Second, why are they not in sealed packs, so that if they are unopened, they should be returned to Hospice and put in the next comfort pack? What a waste!!!
Medical equipment: When we were in one doctor's office, they needed a fine wire for a procedure. They had this big bagged tray thing, which they opened up and removed the one or two things they needed, then they threw out the remainder of the contents, which included a sterile and unused pair of scissors, and a few other medical implements. How asinine. Pre-packed items are one of the biggest wastes. They give you everything when you only need one item. Sort of like getting a Big Mac at McDonald's with a package that includes a straw,napkin, knife, fork and spoon, salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, mayo, and salad dressing. When all you really wanted was the napkin and the salt.
When we got a monthly shipment for the food supplies for my father, they sent EVERYTHING!. We have gloves up the ying yang, extra gauze we never needed. This that and the other thing. We had to tell them to stop, because they just sent it every time the first few months. We finally got it down to just what we needed, which was good.
Prevention: I think my father's second hospital stay could have been prevented if his doctor had listened to our concerns about his temperature change and coughing, and at least had sent him in for an X-ray. Maybe not, but I think it would have.
I can't think anymore. I'll get back to more of this later.