Doctor stops accepting insurance, lowers prices and posts costs online

[TXgolfer]

Actually once they set up the State Exchanges I'll qualify for subsidies and it won't cost nearly as much as I'd have to pay to buy it myself.

Personally I like the idea in that article I posted. Everyone has mandatory catastrophic insurance, and pay out of pocket or financing, or going to clinics where you pay a monthly fee. Paying $500+ a month for "just in case" is just ridiculous. But I would pay $100 a month for "just in case" that's more doable, and reasonable

I'm not sure how much you are following things, but I don't think you are going to like the exchanges much come next year. The outlook is pretty bad.

 

[ambrosia]

I'm not sure how much you are following things, but I don't think you are going to like the exchanges much come next year. The outlook is pretty bad.

Even if they don't, I know a lot of govenors are refusing, so the feds will have to set it up for them......but even if that's a wash I'm certain I make little enough that the tax penalty for me would be waived.

 

[Babyblue]

Wirelessly posted

Wirelessly posted



Shel, Insurance companies are a PITA. i deal with them on a daily basis. Certain insurances will only pay for certain things. Also if your script was written by a doctor that is not affiliated with the particular insurance. It will reject. Many medications require a prior authorization. Which is another pain. We spend alot of pharmacy hours battling insurance companies so the patients get the meds they need.

My kids have medicaid, and they're a pain. My daughter has asthma and I wanted her to have 2 inhalers, one for at home and one for at school. But medicaid will only cover one prescription for the same medicine per person, so I could only get one for her. I had to fill out paperwork with the school allowing her to have it in her backpack and self admister and now I just have to hope she remembers to keep in her back pack and that she brings it to school everyday *sigh*

Many manufactors provide coupons. Go online and lookup her inhaler name and manufactors see if they will let you print out a discount card so youmay be able to get it at a low cost

 

[ncff07]

Welp I think some are forgetting something ... sure insurance premiums and copays are crazy but if something happened and were hospitalized how would that bill be paid ... $15 to$20 k bill for a 2 week hospital stay possibly more of it required surgery or something ... and my CI surgery was over $95k I would have never been able to get it if it wasnt for insurance ... my copay on it was around $1000 or so ...

ambrosia what type of inhaler does your daughter use? I've had to use dif inhalers since April 1999 when I was in the hospital and about kicked the bucket from pnuemonia maybe I can give u some hints on getting them cheaper?

EDIT: CAT scan is over $6k here alone ...

 

[Jiro]

Fyi..I used to work for an insurance company in the early 90s so I know how it goes. I worked in the auto insurance dept..lots of stupid rules on who gets approved for car insurance or not so I can imagine the same for medical insurance. Grrrr

My NY friends got in car accidents (not their fault) and got injured - back pains, chipped tooth, etc. They're going thru insanely crazy procedures for months in order to get compensated.

x-rays/cat scan of day 1 and x-ray/cat scan of next month and another x-ray to show that there is an injury and it's been improving (or not). this and that. it's a headache for them.

however... my mom had a car accident and sustained a back injury. we did not have a legal headache like what my friends are going thru. everything was settled & compensated quickly and painlessly (no pun intended). I suppose one's experience with such matter depends on what state you're in.

 

[diehardbiker]

Your just lucky, yes I am aware that many cases where there are no glitches but more and more are trying to get glitch, and finding reason to avoid losing money.

however... my mom had a car accident and sustained a back injury. we did not have a legal headache like what my friends are going thru. everything was settled & compensated quickly and painlessly (no pun intended). I suppose one's experience with such matter depends on what state you're in.

 

[Jiro]

That is to eliminate the cost of doing paperwork for insurance company in order to get money. Often the wait time to get money from insurance companies around 90 days! Are you willing to do paperwork for free? Ahh, thought so!

lol what? doctors have secretaries to do it for them. the cost of paying secretaries to do paperworks is minuscule compared to the checks they receive from insurance companies for their services.

Two Deaf Doctors here in my town quit private practice, I asked both of them why?

Both of their answer was the same, lots of work with paperwork to get money, and it takes 3 months for them to get paid. They can't continue practice like that.

uh.... doctors see patients everyday. secretaries process paperworks everyday. and the doctors are receiving copays + payments everyday. you know what's it called? a well-oiled engine.

if a doctor can't handle it, it's because he clearly has no clue how to run the business and he should work for somebody else instead of having his own private practice. just saying.

 

[ncff07]

My NY friends got in car accidents (not their fault) and got injured - back pains, chipped tooth, etc. They're going thru insanely crazy procedures for months in order to get compensated.

x-rays/cat scan of day 1 and x-ray/cat scan of next month and another x-ray to show that there is an injury and it's been improving (or not). this and that. it's a headache for them.

however... my mom had a car accident and sustained a back injury. we did not have a legal headache like what my friends are going thru. everything was settled & compensated quickly and painlessly (no pun intended). I suppose one's experience with such matter depends on what state you're in.

was in a wreck October of last year and the other driver was 100% at fault ... i had no trouble getting Nationwide(the other drivers ins co) to pay for the ER bill and specialists bills and meds and all they were afraid i would take them to court but some places billed my personal health insurance first instead of waiting for payment from the auto insurance ... thats the only way they would see me ... now I'm getting flak from my insurance wanting to be reimbursed from the auto insurance for the charges sustained from the wreck ... its a nightmare of red tape ...

 

[Jiro]

Your just lucky, yes I am aware that many cases where there are no glitches but more and more are trying to get glitch, and finding reason to avoid losing money.

this is not the first time for us to deal with insurance companies. we have no problem so far. however - I do hear a bunch of ridiculous mickey mouse farces from my NY friends. I truly feel sorry for New Yorkers.

I guess we're just fortunate because NJ has specific laws for insurance coverage... and that's why NJ is one of the most expensive state for insurance. a small price to pay for headache-free case.

 

[diehardbiker]

For the last time, my case has nothing to do with how much I pay for.

this is not the first time for us to deal with insurance companies. we have no problem so far. however - I do hear a bunch of ridiculous mickey mouse farces from my NY friends. I truly feel sorry for New Yorkers.

I guess we're just fortunate because NJ has specific laws for insurance coverage... and that's why NJ is one of the most expensive state for insurance. a small price to pay for headache-free case.

 

[Jiro]

If my cousin was single I would be able to assess her wealth but she married another doctor who is 15 years her senior and he had already acquired wealth from his practice and with his family so my cousin has more luxuries than I do (she is only 28 years old) so I don't know if it they are from her earnings or his. I don't ask but they are both definitely very very very well off.

She is the first doctor in our family so it is all new to us.

sounds like they know business well and they manage money well - probably have excellent financial consultant, accountant, and lawyer. there are some ways to start your own practice early on without having to spend a substantial amount of money the hard way.

I told people that there are 3 most important friends to have in life - lawyer, accountant, and doctor.

but you know who is doctor's best friend? a realtor

 

[Jiro]

For the last time, my case has nothing to do with how much I pay for.

huh? I wasn't talking about your case. I don't even know anything about it.

 

[caz12]

do americans think this good or bad?
thank god for NHS although still have pay somethings like insurence medicals or passport...to my surprise i told dr's get paid extra if see special needs person,i thought they being good hearted giving special needs person extra time,nobody do anything for nothing these days

 

[Babyblue]

Wirelessly posted

What paper work? Everything is done on the computer or phone. We rarely use paper for insurance purposes.

 

[Jane B.]

Wirelessly posted

What paper work? Everything is done on the computer or phone. We rarely use paper for insurance purposes.

Paperwork is just the common term for the documentation be it actually on paper or via computer or phone.

 

[Foxrac]

do americans think this good or bad?
thank god for NHS although still have pay somethings like insurence medicals or passport...to my surprise i told dr's get paid extra if see special needs person,i thought they being good hearted giving special needs person extra time,nobody do anything for nothing these days

Come to British America.

You will get covered under NHS America.

Province of New York is fun - NYC.

 

[diehardbiker]

I mentioned there are tons of paperwork involved when getting money from Insurance companies, here is link explaining why more doctors opt for cash only services.

Cash-only doctors abandon the insurance system - Jun. 11, 2013

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Fed up with declining payments and rising red tape, a small but growing number of doctors is opting out of the insurance system completely. They're expecting patients to pony up with cash.

Some doctors who have gone that route love it, saying they can spend more time with and provide higher-quality care to their patients. Health advocates are skeptical, worrying that only the wealthy will benefit from this system.

In Wichita, Kan., 32-year old family physician Doug Nunamaker switched to a cash-only basis in 2010 after taking insurance for five years. ("Cash-only" is a loose description. Nunamaker accepts payment by debit or credit card too.)

Under the traditional health insurance system, a large staff was required just to navigate all the paperwork, he said. That resulted in high overhead, forcing doctors like Nunamaker to take on more patients to cover costs. Plus, the amount insurance companies were willing to pay for procedures was declining, leading to a vicious cycle.

"The paperwork, the hassles, it just got to be overwhelming," Nunamaker said. "We knew that we had to find a better way to practice."

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I don't want to share much of my issues in public, this is the reason why I understood this perfectly clearly. I am currently in legal mess with health insurance agencies and that is how I know whats going on. What happened to me CAN happen to anyone, does not matter which state one lives. The truth is Insurance companies ARE playing games and doing everything they can to refuse the claim, result no doctor wants to treat me! Its all finger pointing and it is UNREAL.

 

[KarissaMann05]

One of my relatives can't have a surgery until someone had paid first. It took someone a month to obtain all of the money to pay the surgery... It was done for two times, so someone told his/her family if it does happen again, she/he will not pay it again for third surgery. She/he just let it spread upon someone to kill him/her.

I pray nothing would happen again for him/her in future.

I understand most people do not want to pay for someone's health. But, it seems it's hard for the lower class. If you're middle or high class, you should consider yourself lucky...

 

[Lau2046]

I mentioned there are tons of paperwork involved when getting money from Insurance companies, here is link explaining why more doctors opt for cash only services.

Cash-only doctors abandon the insurance system - Jun. 11, 2013

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Fed up with declining payments and rising red tape, a small but growing number of doctors is opting out of the insurance system completely. They're expecting patients to pony up with cash.

Some doctors who have gone that route love it, saying they can spend more time with and provide higher-quality care to their patients. Health advocates are skeptical, worrying that only the wealthy will benefit from this system.

In Wichita, Kan., 32-year old family physician Doug Nunamaker switched to a cash-only basis in 2010 after taking insurance for five years. ("Cash-only" is a loose description. Nunamaker accepts payment by debit or credit card too.)

Under the traditional health insurance system, a large staff was required just to navigate all the paperwork, he said. That resulted in high overhead, forcing doctors like Nunamaker to take on more patients to cover costs. Plus, the amount insurance companies were willing to pay for procedures was declining, leading to a vicious cycle.

"The paperwork, the hassles, it just got to be overwhelming," Nunamaker said. "We knew that we had to find a better way to practice."

==================================================

I don't want to share much of my issues in public, this is the reason why I understood this perfectly clearly. I am currently in legal mess with health insurance agencies and that is how I know whats going on. What happened to me CAN happen to anyone, does not matter which state one lives. The truth is Insurance companies ARE playing games and doing everything they can to refuse the claim, result no doctor wants to treat me! Its all finger pointing and it is UNREAL.

They'd love me. I've paid close to $20K for operations and other procedures that my insurance refused to pay. At least my doctor's know my check doesn't bounce.

Laura

 

[diehardbiker]

No, middle class is worst, those with lower class are better off than middle class. I used to be in middle class, not anymore and I can tell the difference. The only people that are truly best off is upper class.

I understand most people do not want to pay for someone's health. But, it seems it's hard for the lower class. If you're middle or high class, you should consider yourself lucky...