I can’t stand to think about health care reform. While I am all for reform, our government, both democrats and republicans, can’t get it right. I am scared we will be in worse shape then we are now. Pharmaceutical companies are already raising prices in advance of the coming changes. As an uninsured, this hits me harder than the insured. The insurance companies negotiate their prices. I don’t and I can’t. Same thing with hospitals.
Have you had a procedure done without insurance? Years ago, my husband had a colonoscopy without insurance coverage. When the bills piled in, it was so confusing. We had service codes that were identical on multiple bills. I did a little research online and found a site that would give you the Medicaid pricing for each code. Mine were no where in line. Plus a doctor would charge you one code, the hospital would charge you the same code. What? That, to me, seemed like double billing. We all know it happens. But when I questioned it, all I got was a denial. No feasible explanation. No negotiating happened. I got no where for a lot of work.
Fast forward a few years. Another procedure needed. This time it was a CT or something. Jason had the foresight to call ahead and get a price. He had the billing code and it was an easy task. They gave him the price with no problems. We get the bill. Does it match what was quoted? Not even close. What was the problem? They used the wrong billing code. Do you think that happens often? I am sure it does! Would you know if you were billed the wrong code? If you didn’t call ahead, you would have had zero idea. Thankfully, Jason saved the code so he had a leg to stand on when he questioned the billing department. If I remember correctly, the price doubled from $400ish to $800ish. Unacceptable!
While I am anxious to have insurance, I am not so sure how affordable it will be. Will it be better than the insurance we purchased for our family a few years back? We paid a fairly high monthly amount (I believe it went up to $700+ a month before we canceled.) and it seemed like nothing came off our deductible. That left for even higher monthly out of pocket expense. Isn’t the key to health, preventative care, or at least early care? If my doctor’s appointments don’t at least come off my deductible, is there any incentive to use your family doctor and not just go to the hospital? Or wait until it is so bad that you are more expensive to care for? When I purchased the insurance, I understood it had a $1,000 deductible, $2500 family (if I remember correctly). What I didn’t understand was that none of the basics in care would go towards that deductible. Fortunately, with one child with type 1 diabetes, he qualified for Children’s Special Health Care so all of his supplies would be paid by Children’s (as a secondary) so our deductible would end up being met around October by just his supplies. Now if we could only stay healthy until October ;)
Another thing I can’t think about, the economy and what is being done to turn it around. We are self employed. We will always be self employed. We are just self employed kind of people. Our current business is in the automotive industry. At Bumper 911 we repair plastic parts on cars for dealerships and retail customers. Years ago, we only worked with dealerships. Thankfully we had the foresight to broaden our base and search out retail customers. With car dealerships not selling cars, we aren’t doing work. The “cash for clunkers” program hurt the used car industry, at least in this area. The financing industry, pulling floor plans, (floor plans are the financing programs that dealerships use to finance their inventory) has killed the rest of the remaining used car lots and some new car lots. We haven’t done a drop of dealership work since July….JULY! We have been living off retail work and selling a lot of the contents of our home.
My sister wrote about the economy and said it best when she said it all starts with manufacturing. If we can’t get manufacturing going again in this country, we have no hope. My dad has always said, “We don’t make anything in this country!” We don’t. Our economy is largely service and healthcare. We have all watched a lot of service positions head overseas, and if you haven’t noticed, a lot of healthcare is heading there too. We don’t even require our FDA approved drugs be manufactured here! We have all watched the happenings in China. Do you want your insulin manufactured in China? I don’t!
I almost can stand to think about the cure. It brings such mixed feelings. I know the cure is out there. Diabetes came into our lives January 31, 2000. At that time I was confident that there would be a cure in 10 years. As you can see, we are coming up on 10 years. I promised my son that there would be a cure before he starts driving. (Ok, maybe that was more of a promise to myself as I don’t even want to think how nervous I will be then.) But just think of the parents of 40 years ago, or 80 years ago. They probably told their children the same thing. I can’t bare to see my son living with this for the rest of his life. Technology has come so far and there are so many possible cures out there. How can I even worry that the cure won’t come for my son? I just do. I find myself fixing a meal for the family and thinking, oh my god, my son is going to have to eat gluten free for the rest of his life. Again, probably not, but it is possible. Sure he has been gluten free since June of 2005, but at times it hits me like it is a new diagnosis. The only activity I have found to relieve that feeling of helplessness is to participate in fundraising for a cure. Because of my own paranoia, I have chosen to help by raising money directly for my favorite researcher, leaving out all the middle men. Help Cure Childhood Diabetes was set up to do just that. Being part of a ground floor operation to fund a cure is exciting. It is a way to think positive about our children’s future. To feel some sense of control. Still, there are those mornings, like this morning, when I am reading over the forum at Children with Diabetes, that I just get down. That I feel those doubts. But, compared to the other things I can’t bare to think about, this is one I feel that I can spin to a positive energy.
What can I do about the other two heavy hitters? Well, I can do my best to purchase locally, to build my local economy. I can do my best to buy made in the USA products, but that is harder than the first one. How much is really made here anymore? Let your voice be heard through your purchasing power. Quit using credit and debit cards when possible. The use of these cards drives up prices (as the retailer has to cover the fees from the card companies) and puts money in the pockets of the snakes (credit card companies). Quit being a victim of the banking industry. Show your power by choosing cash. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone spent cash again?
Thanks for listening to my rant. I just get so overwhelmed thinking about this stuff. Writing about it at least gives me a small sense of power in what seems like a powerless world.
Have you had a procedure done without insurance? Years ago, my husband had a colonoscopy without insurance coverage. When the bills piled in, it was so confusing. We had service codes that were identical on multiple bills. I did a little research online and found a site that would give you the Medicaid pricing for each code. Mine were no where in line. Plus a doctor would charge you one code, the hospital would charge you the same code. What? That, to me, seemed like double billing. We all know it happens. But when I questioned it, all I got was a denial. No feasible explanation. No negotiating happened. I got no where for a lot of work.
Fast forward a few years. Another procedure needed. This time it was a CT or something. Jason had the foresight to call ahead and get a price. He had the billing code and it was an easy task. They gave him the price with no problems. We get the bill. Does it match what was quoted? Not even close. What was the problem? They used the wrong billing code. Do you think that happens often? I am sure it does! Would you know if you were billed the wrong code? If you didn’t call ahead, you would have had zero idea. Thankfully, Jason saved the code so he had a leg to stand on when he questioned the billing department. If I remember correctly, the price doubled from $400ish to $800ish. Unacceptable!
While I am anxious to have insurance, I am not so sure how affordable it will be. Will it be better than the insurance we purchased for our family a few years back? We paid a fairly high monthly amount (I believe it went up to $700+ a month before we canceled.) and it seemed like nothing came off our deductible. That left for even higher monthly out of pocket expense. Isn’t the key to health, preventative care, or at least early care? If my doctor’s appointments don’t at least come off my deductible, is there any incentive to use your family doctor and not just go to the hospital? Or wait until it is so bad that you are more expensive to care for? When I purchased the insurance, I understood it had a $1,000 deductible, $2500 family (if I remember correctly). What I didn’t understand was that none of the basics in care would go towards that deductible. Fortunately, with one child with type 1 diabetes, he qualified for Children’s Special Health Care so all of his supplies would be paid by Children’s (as a secondary) so our deductible would end up being met around October by just his supplies. Now if we could only stay healthy until October ;)
Another thing I can’t think about, the economy and what is being done to turn it around. We are self employed. We will always be self employed. We are just self employed kind of people. Our current business is in the automotive industry. At Bumper 911 we repair plastic parts on cars for dealerships and retail customers. Years ago, we only worked with dealerships. Thankfully we had the foresight to broaden our base and search out retail customers. With car dealerships not selling cars, we aren’t doing work. The “cash for clunkers” program hurt the used car industry, at least in this area. The financing industry, pulling floor plans, (floor plans are the financing programs that dealerships use to finance their inventory) has killed the rest of the remaining used car lots and some new car lots. We haven’t done a drop of dealership work since July….JULY! We have been living off retail work and selling a lot of the contents of our home.
My sister wrote about the economy and said it best when she said it all starts with manufacturing. If we can’t get manufacturing going again in this country, we have no hope. My dad has always said, “We don’t make anything in this country!” We don’t. Our economy is largely service and healthcare. We have all watched a lot of service positions head overseas, and if you haven’t noticed, a lot of healthcare is heading there too. We don’t even require our FDA approved drugs be manufactured here! We have all watched the happenings in China. Do you want your insulin manufactured in China? I don’t!
I almost can stand to think about the cure. It brings such mixed feelings. I know the cure is out there. Diabetes came into our lives January 31, 2000. At that time I was confident that there would be a cure in 10 years. As you can see, we are coming up on 10 years. I promised my son that there would be a cure before he starts driving. (Ok, maybe that was more of a promise to myself as I don’t even want to think how nervous I will be then.) But just think of the parents of 40 years ago, or 80 years ago. They probably told their children the same thing. I can’t bare to see my son living with this for the rest of his life. Technology has come so far and there are so many possible cures out there. How can I even worry that the cure won’t come for my son? I just do. I find myself fixing a meal for the family and thinking, oh my god, my son is going to have to eat gluten free for the rest of his life. Again, probably not, but it is possible. Sure he has been gluten free since June of 2005, but at times it hits me like it is a new diagnosis. The only activity I have found to relieve that feeling of helplessness is to participate in fundraising for a cure. Because of my own paranoia, I have chosen to help by raising money directly for my favorite researcher, leaving out all the middle men. Help Cure Childhood Diabetes was set up to do just that. Being part of a ground floor operation to fund a cure is exciting. It is a way to think positive about our children’s future. To feel some sense of control. Still, there are those mornings, like this morning, when I am reading over the forum at Children with Diabetes, that I just get down. That I feel those doubts. But, compared to the other things I can’t bare to think about, this is one I feel that I can spin to a positive energy.
What can I do about the other two heavy hitters? Well, I can do my best to purchase locally, to build my local economy. I can do my best to buy made in the USA products, but that is harder than the first one. How much is really made here anymore? Let your voice be heard through your purchasing power. Quit using credit and debit cards when possible. The use of these cards drives up prices (as the retailer has to cover the fees from the card companies) and puts money in the pockets of the snakes (credit card companies). Quit being a victim of the banking industry. Show your power by choosing cash. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone spent cash again?
Thanks for listening to my rant. I just get so overwhelmed thinking about this stuff. Writing about it at least gives me a small sense of power in what seems like a powerless world.
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