Wit's End [NA]

[TCABM]

Good point. Yes, the US has spectacularly failed to treat obesity….

For most, it’s easily and entirely preventable to begin with. Yes, there are edge cases.

…the current approach in the US, which is more like "disease management" than "health care".

Concur.

 

[OneCharlieTango]

The macho posturing about “letting them have one stick and then telling them to get someone else” is hilarious.

 

[JOhnH]

The macho posturing about “letting them have one stick and then telling them to get someone else” is hilarious.

What did I miss?

 

[PaulS]

Curious on mandatory to provide insurance. I did some quick web searching since I have not heard this before; and wanted to see what was up. But I cannot find anything on it.
I have multiple times, at local urgent care centers if I know what I am going for, not provided health insurance (cash strep tests are cheaper than insurance, cash they let the nurse do it, with insurance I have to see the doc to authorize the nurse to run the test). When asked by the front desk at the urgent care, I say not going to provide it, they say "ok. Cash?". I say yes.

Tim

It pretty much comes down to if they know you have insurance, they have to use it. I've run into this before too when the insurance company is balking at paying for something and I didn't want to wait for the bureaucracy to grant me what I needed, so I told the doctor I'd self pay. He said he couldn't do that I had to wait. In the end they approved it. If they had denied it, he probably would have let me do it. But if you tell them you have no insurance, then you are probably ok to self pay, unless they figure out you have insurance.

 

[PaulS]

The macho posturing about “letting them have one stick and then telling them to get someone else” is hilarious.

Two, I'll give them two unless I'm sure they won't get it after the first. Nothing macho about it or mean about it. Just a quick, "that's it, let's get someone else to try." You are free to let them jab you 20 times, I'm sure you'll laugh while they are doing it.

 

[Bob Noel]

What did I miss?

one possibility is you not understanding "stick" as in jab with the needle to draw blood or insert an IV needle.

(just guessing....)

 

[JOhnH]

one possibility is you not understanding "stick" as in jab with the needle to draw blood or insert an IV needle.

(just guessing....)

Good guess. I do understand "stick" as in jab, but for some reason it didn't come to me.
It sux getting old.

 

[tspear]

It pretty much comes down to if they know you have insurance, they have to use it. I've run into this before too when the insurance company is balking at paying for something and I didn't want to wait for the bureaucracy to grant me what I needed, so I told the doctor I'd self pay. He said he couldn't do that I had to wait. In the end they approved it. If they had denied it, he probably would have let me do it. But if you tell them you have no insurance, then you are probably ok to self pay, unless they figure out you have insurance.

Well I cannot find anything searching the web on this topic. This is the whole advertising basis of GoodRx, to get around the insurance.

Tim

 

[mryan75]

Jeez if it’s that bad I’d just roll into the ER then. Might seem like overkill but I wouldn’t chance it.

Yeah I would have gone to the ER a long time ago.

 

[FatherPilot]

From a sociological standpoint, you could put healthy fresh produce stands selling cheaply in most urban areas and they would drive past them to McDonald's or the 7-11. Obesity is a perverted form of western affluence where the poor are obese and the rich are thin.

 

[Racerx]

Obesity is a perverted form of western affluence where the poor are obese and the rich are thin.

The governor of Illinois spoils that argument. Plenty of filthy rich fat dudes.

 

[AKiss20]

The governor of Illinois spoils that argument. Plenty of filthy rich fat dudes

Plenty of data on this phenomena is only a short google away.

Recent origin and evolution of obesity-income correlation across the United States - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

From a gene-culture evolutionary perspective, the recent rise in obesity rates around the Developed world is unprecedented; perhaps the most rapid population-scale shift in human phenotype ever to occur. Focusing on the recent rise of obesity and diabetes in the United States, we consider the...

www.nature.com

Wealth and Obesity Among U.S. Adults Entering Midlife

This study examines the relationship between wealth and obesity among adults entering midlife and whether this relationship varies by gender, race, and measure of wealth.The data were obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY-79). ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Mtns2Skies]

Rat race continues. Specialist spent less than 2 minutes with me, said it isn't what the previous docs thought, and referred me to an orthopedist doc. Not a vein issue, probably nicked a nerve is the current leader. This sucks. I think cumulatively, I've spent less than 5 minutes with all of the doctors.

 

[Kenny Phillips]

So there I was…

Flat on my back with what I presumed was a herniated disc.

Try to sked a MRI… we can get you in, in THREE WEEKS. It’s about 3 grand, what’s your deductible? “Uh, no insurance.”

Oh, come right in, that’ll be $400.

WHA??? Why did I EVER use insurance?

Because it’s ILLEGAL to not use insurance if you have it… which means it would have cost more and I’d have spent THREE MORE WEEKS lying on my back pooping myself BECAUSE I COULDNT MOVE.

Dude, I got nothin for ya, but feel your pain. And we complain about the FAA…

I've not used my insurance for medical stuff more than once.

 

[GeorgeC]

This is the worst beer review thread ever.

 

[Racerx]

Rat race continues. Specialist spent less than 2 minutes with me, said it isn't what the previous docs thought, and referred me to an orthopedist doc. Not a vein issue, probably nicked a nerve is the current leader. This sucks. I think cumulatively, I've spent less than 5 minutes with all of the doctors.

When I broke my foot I got billed by a doctor despite never seeing a doctor. Not that that helps.

 

[JOhnH]

When I broke my foot I got billed by a doctor despite never seeing a doctor. Not that that helps.

Did you make an appointment and then not show up? If that is the case, you should have been billed.
If that is not the case, I apologize.

My wife is a veterinarian. Today she came home rather frustrated. She had 10 appointments today. Six of them "No-Showed". She was thinking about other people that wanted an appointment, but there were no open slots.

 

[172andyou]

Did you make an appointment and then not show up? If that is the case, you should have been billed.
If that is not the case, I apologize.

My wife is a veterinarian. Today she came home rather frustrated. She had 10 appointments today. Six of them "No-Showed". She was thinking about other people that wanted an appointment, but there were no open slots.

That's a crazy percentage!

 

[Pinecone]

Maybe you’ll change your mind when someone you love has their life saved by donated blood.

There are other avenues than the Red Cross. Some of them even pay you for the blood. Buys some AVGAS.

 

[Bob Noel]

Did you make an appointment and then not show up? If that is the case, you should have been billed.
If that is not the case, I apologize.

My wife is a veterinarian. Today she came home rather frustrated. She had 10 appointments today. Six of them "No-Showed". She was thinking about other people that wanted an appointment, but there were no open slots.

My dentist anticipates a number of people canceling appointments depending on the upcoming weather. And no, I'm not talking about an impending storm type of weather-cancellations.

 

[RyanB]

Yeah, I dunno, it sounds like nerve damage to me. If so, it’s a time thing, cause it’ll get better slowly. Sorry you’re going through this!

 

[JOhnH]

My dentist anticipates a number of people canceling appointments depending on the upcoming weather. And no, I'm not talking about an impending storm type of weather-cancellations.

Back when I owned the clinic (we have since sold it buy my wife still works one day a week) we stopped doing that very often. We used to over-book expecting a few no-shows and not only would everyone show up, those would be the days we had a bunch of emergency walk-ins. Not only did it stress the staff, it upset all the regular customers that had to wait longer than they should, and it would really stress me out because when that happened I would comp the $50 exam fee for their inconvenience.

Six out of 10 is a lot, but not unheard of.
And aside from those no-shows, her surgery schedule also included two free (community service) neuters and a free spay. And one large dental procedure (full mouth extraction).

 

[Bob Noel]

to clarify, my dentist didn’t overbook, he just knew that some would cancel

 

[BillTIZ]

Only slightly relevant. But I stopped giving blood a while ago when I realize that it was just a business and I was making a free donation. When I looked into it five years ago the hospital paid $400 for a pint of blood that I gave for nothing.

I stopped donating when I went on active duty military as a flyer. I knew if anyone screwed up during a donation, or if I passed out because they screwed up, my flying career was over. So I stopped.

 

[455 Bravo Uniform]

Many of us were concerned about 25 years ago that our healthcare system would become like that of other developed countries where being seen by doctors and getting surgery had to be booked months out. We have arrived. We are stupid.

I have close upper-middle class friends that go to Mexico for medical and dental procedures, as well as brand name pharmaceuticals. No one has gotten infected, no complications, no one died. The risk is overblown by media and internet, same as aviation - sure it’s maybe risky, but it won’t kill everybody every time.

My parents are both retired physicians. They did it because they loved it. Money was secondary. They provided care when they knew they had no chance of getting paid in full. They learned medicine near the end of an era when they had their bag and made house calls.

Insurance and lawyers ruined it. I will be unswayed from my opinion. I’m almost never this cocky on POA. On this I am right.

 

[tspear]

Insurance and lawyers ruined it. I will be unswayed from my opinion. I’m almost never this cocky on POA. On this I am right.

Hmm, I think there is plenty of blame to go around. But I put a lot less blame on those two than many others. Starting with politicians, unions (who pushed hard for employee based care which drove insurance), lobbyists.... There is plenty of blame and many actors involved.

Tim