Originally Posted By Mr X This is just sick. Really unbelievable. <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13530098" target="_blank">http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13530098</a> ***Alex's pre-existing condition — "obesity" — makes him a financial risk. Health insurance reform measures are trying to do away with such denials that come from a process called "underwriting." "If health care reform occurs, underwriting will go away. We do it because everybody else in the industry does it," said Dr. Doug Speedie, medical director at Rocky Mountain Health Plans, the company that turned down Alex. By the numbers, Alex is in the 99th percentile for height and weight for babies his age. Insurers don't take babies above the 95th percentile, no matter how healthy they are otherwise. "I could understand if we could control what he's eating. But he's 4 months old. He's breast-feeding. We can't put him on the Atkins diet or on a treadmill," joked his frustrated father, Bernie Lange, a part-time news anchor at KKCO-TV in Grand Junction. "There is just something absurd about denying an infant."*** Let's not EVER forget, folks, that one of the main right wing talking points is the danger of putting a bureaucrat between you and your doctor. Right? Unless that bureaucrat happens to represent the insurance companies we're all so concerned with protecting, I guess.
Originally Posted By Mr X By the way, I posted this very same thing on a well known right wing board...here are the first two replies I got back. "so pay out of your own pocket for the kids medical care, no one is stopping you..." "At least they still have a choice to try and get insurance through another provider or pay out of pocket. If the governement takes over the health care industry and a government bureaucrat denies you cover, then that is the end of the line."
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Mr. X, please tell me you don't link posters on message boards to the political party they claim they are affiliated with... I could easily go to some well known liberal sites and get some sound bites as well...
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Mr. X, please tell me you don't link posters on message boards to the political party they claim they are affiliated with...*** When it's the Sean Hannity forums I sure do. ***I could easily go to some well known liberal sites and get some sound bites as well...*** Sure you could. But it's just interesting to see the way those people think, quite stunning really.
Originally Posted By fkurucz << But it's just interesting to see the way those people think, quite stunning really.>> It called "drinking the kool aid". I have coworkers who are underinsured because they can't afford the "good" health insurance at work ($100 vs $400 per month), of course they all have a nicer car than I do. The cheap insurance means that they have huge deductibles and just never see the doctor (in fact, many don't even have a family doctor) because that means spending over $100 per visit. Some actually use the local clinics for the indigent, but that can involve waiting weeks. Nevertheless, my coworkers want the government to "keep its hands off their (almost non-existant) healthcare", even though its is painfully clear that the private sector has failed them utterly in this regard. Another anecdote: These days I can usually get in to see our family doctor on short notice, sometimes the same day. This wasn't the case 5 years ago, when I might have had to wait a whole week. I don't know why this is the case, but I'm guessing that people are "toughing it out" more than in the past and skipping office visits because their current insurance is crap. And now we have the H1N1 virus hitting hard in my neck of the woods. I know several families that have been hammered by it. I don't want to think about how many people will be toughing this one out until they end up in the emergency room. What's laughable is that even with my "gold plated" coverage I still have a stack of bills to pay for my recent gall bladder removal that tally up to about $1000. Here is an example of what I mean: Surgeon bills insurance company for $3000, insurance company negotiates his bill down to 1700, pays him 90% and I'm stuck with $170. Now add in the anesthesiologist, the clinic fee (the lion's share of the bill) lab fees and other junk and I still owe a wad. And to add insult to injury had I been uninsured I would have been billed much more than the insurance company was, and from what I have seen on the bills it would have been a cool 10 grand or more for something that took 3 hours to perform from the time I checked in until I was discharged. There were 4 people in the OR (2 Docs and 2 nurses) and another nurse who doted on me later as I recovered for an hour.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Oh fkurucz, I always love reading your insiteful thoughts, but they always bring me down too. Free markets are not always a good thing, sadly America seems to be hypnotized about it?
Originally Posted By fkurucz ^^^Mesmerized. We believe that free markets can do no harm. I recall in my masters degree program we once discussed the merits unregulate vs. regulated. We had a classmate who believe no regulation whatsoever was needed, not even for businesses like airlines. In his opinion the free market would "weed out" the unsafe airlines (too bad for those who die in the crashes meanwhile). And don't mention to anyone that we are slowly sliding into a 3rd world standard of living (as you noticed on your last US visit), cuz it can't be true in America, "the greatest country in the world". One of my new coworkers had a spouse in the hospital years ago when they were uninsured. It took them FIFTEEN years to pay off that bill. And you know what? She doesn't want the government to get involved!
Originally Posted By disneydad109 my son broke his arm skiing.The doctor told us we needed to get prior approval before his last visit.The health insurance folks told me he didn't have approval for anymore doctor visits.I told them that I was not a doctor but I an ALMOST sure that the cast on his arm will have to come off sooner or later and what would they like us to do ?After a few moments of dead air they lady said we could go back this one last time.
Originally Posted By alexbook >>I told them that I was not a doctor but I an ALMOST sure that the cast on his arm will have to come off sooner or later and what would they like us to do ?After a few moments of dead air they lady said we could go back this one last time.<< LOL
Originally Posted By Mr X ***And don't mention to anyone that we are slowly sliding into a 3rd world standard of living (as you noticed on your last US visit), cuz it can't be true in America, "the greatest country in the world".*** One of the later responses was almost exactly that. Something like "Oh, because of this one stupid story about irresponsible parents of a sickly child, we should dismantle the GREATEST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD!?". Sorry I can't quote it directly, I was subsequently banned from the place for daring to post such a thread (banned even from reading..wow).
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<And now we have the H1N1 virus hitting hard in my neck of the woods.>> Just read today that schools are now closing in southern Colorado due to the flu outbreak.
Originally Posted By hopemax Update, so bowing to public pressure, the insurance company decided to change their policy regarding infants. <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13547963" target="_blank">http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13547963</a>
Originally Posted By beamerdog Wow, I was lucky that my son was only in the 95 percentile in height and weight for most of his first year. He was 24" and 9lbs 12 oz and born 2 mo. early. Good thing I didn't go full term, or I guess we wouldn't have had insurance, either.
