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Patients Pay Before Seeing Doctor as Deductibles Spread

MaggieD said:
Why won't it stop them? Would you rather pay $30 up front or $1,500?
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They don't have to pay $1500, emergency rooms cannot refuse to care for anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. They just walk in, say they have no money and still get care.
 
Cephus said:
They don't have to pay $1500, emergency rooms cannot refuse to care for anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. They just walk in, say they have no money and still get care.
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And, actually? That's got to stop. It used to be that ERs had to stabilize nonpayers in an emergency. Now? They prescribe antibiotics for sore throats.
 
MaggieD said:
Are you posting this as if it's bad news? That would be good news. Emergency rooms are ridiculously over-used. If people have to pay up in advance, they'll make an appointment with their doctor -- or, YIKES! get a family doctor.

I've had the misfortune of having to use the ER on four occasions in the last six years...for genuine pain-threshhold-ten emergencies. Somebody's there because his foot cast itches...a kid with a sore throat who's running around the waiting area...dozens of people looking just fine patiently waiting for ER care. More convenient at night is my guess. That's simply GOT to change.

Large deductibles are a good thing.
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I'm not saying large deductibles shouldn't exist, but by your post it's obvious you did not fully read the article. This isn't at all about ER visits, it's about non-ER visits. I suggest you re-read it. If you don't walk into your first couple of doctor visits of the year with a pocket full of money, YOU WILL NOT BE SEEN.
 
Cephus said:
The other problem with modern HMOs is that it can take months to get an appointment with your doctor and if you can't wait, they will specifically direct you to the ER. If I call my doctor today, I will not see him before 2014, I guarantee it.
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I can email my Kaiser doctor and get in within a day or two. If I'm willing to see any doctor, I can get in the same day. It sounds like the problem is your HMO.
 
Dickieboy said:
Uh, so the President lied when he said:


President Obama’s April 30, 2013, news conference (TRANSCRIPT) - The Washington Post

Or perhaps it was YOU who is lying...



a lie is a 'post of reason'...?
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I find this funny from what the President said.

"Chuck Todd.
Q: Mr. President, thank you. Max Baucus, Democratic senator, referred to the implementation of your health-care as a potential train wreck...And why do you believe he's wrong?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: …The Affordable Care Act, "Obamacare," has now been with us for three years...A huge chunk of it's already been implemented…And for the 85 to 90 percent of Americans…they're already experiencing most of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act even if they don't know it. Their insurance is more secure. Insurance companies can't drop them for bad reasons. Their kids are able to stay on their health insurance until they're 26 years old. They're getting free preventive care.

…But I think the main message I want to give to the American people here is despite all the hue and cry and, you know, sky-is- falling predictions about this stuff, if you've already got health insurance, then that part of "Obamacare" that affects you,it's pretty much already in place. And that's about 85 percent of the country."

That the President would even think there is such a thing as free medical care. Somebody is paying for it, just not the person receiving the services.
 
MaggieD said:
And, actually? That's got to stop. It used to be that ERs had to stabilize nonpayers in an emergency. Now? They prescribe antibiotics for sore throats.
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Now, anybody can go for any reason and it was the liberals who made sure that was the case. It's not going to stop and people on welfare cannot have their wages garnished, it's only going to get worse at the ER.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
GM had a crappy product that could not compete and union benefits that dwarfed IBM. My mom worked there 20 years and gets $400.00 a month. Compare that to GM union retirement.
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It did, indeed, have a crappy product. Don't get me started on my 2000 Impala as an example. but $400 a month for a Medicare supplement of any sort is excessive. They simply don't cost that much, and Kaiser is one of the least expensive.

Or, if you meant that your mom has a $400 a month retirement from IBM, let's hope that's not her only source of income.
 
Dittohead not! said:
I can email my Kaiser doctor and get in within a day or two. If I'm willing to see any doctor, I can get in the same day. It sounds like the problem is your HMO.
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Mine is Kaiser and that's the problem. If I want to see *MY* doctor, I wait for months. My wife, who sees her doctor once a year, has to set up her appointment 5-6 months ahead of time.
 
Dittohead not! said:
It did, indeed, have a crappy product. Don't get me started on my 2000 Impala as an example. but $400 a month for a Medicare supplement of any sort is excessive. They simply don't cost that much, and Kaiser is one of the least expensive.

Or, if you meant that your mom has a $400 a month retirement from IBM, let's hope that's not her only source of income.
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400 income from IBM but they saved and have stocks and 401k stuff.
 
Cephus said:
They don't have to pay $1500, emergency rooms cannot refuse to care for anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. They just walk in, say they have no money and still get care.
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Why would anyone with health insurance go through the hell of an emergency room visit?
 
Cephus said:
They don't have to pay $1500, emergency rooms cannot refuse to care for anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. They just walk in, say they have no money and still get care.
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That's just not true. They do not refuse EMERGENCY, life saving care. They can and do refuse non-emergency, non-life threatening care to those who cannot pay.
 
Mason66 said:
Why would anyone with health insurance go through the hell of an emergency room visit?
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This has been covered in another thread - they cannot afford the co-pay and the doctor's office wants that upfront.
 
American said:
I'm not saying large deductibles shouldn't exist, but by your post it's obvious you did not fully read the article. This isn't at all about ER visits, it's about non-ER visits. I suggest you re-read it. If you don't walk into your first couple of doctor visits of the year with a pocket full of money, YOU WILL NOT BE SEEN.
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First, this applies to some providers. Second, they will not ask for more money than your visit. Some of these providers discussed in the OP will ask that you pay your co-pay up front. That might be, what? $30? Some might ask that you pay for the entire visit -- if they're hooked up via computer with your health insurer. I say THAT because unless they have a direct link to YOUR policy, they have absolutely NO idea how much of your deductible you've used. But no doctor is going to ask for your $5,000 deductible for a $125 doctor visit.

This is another horror story.
 
MaggieD said:
First, this applies to some providers. Second, they will not ask for more money than your visit. Some of these providers discussed in the OP will ask that you pay your co-pay up front. That might be, what? $30? Some might ask that you pay for the entire visit -- if they're hooked up via computer with your health insurer. I say THAT because unless they have a direct link to YOUR policy, they have absolutely NO idea how much of your deductible you've used. But no doctor is going to ask for your $5,000 deductible for a $125 doctor visit.

This is another horror story.
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We're not talking about co-pays which have been required for years....decades. We're talking about paying for entire procedures upfront before any insurance. Wow, what happened to all that compassion for the poor Obamacare was going to solve.

:roll:
 
American said:
We're not talking about co-pays which have been required for years....decades. We're talking about paying for entire procedures upfront before any insurance. Wow, what happened to all that compassion for the poor Obamacare was going to solve.

:roll:
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"Elective procedures."
 
clownboy said:
This has been covered in another thread - they cannot afford the co-pay and the doctor's office wants that upfront.
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If these people are paying for their health insurance, you can asume they have the money for the co-pay and even the deductible.

With health insurance you go see your doctor.
 
Mason66 said:
Why would anyone with health insurance go through the hell of an emergency room visit?
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If you're required to pay your deductable up front at the doctor and you don't have that money, you have no other choice, do you?
 
Mason66 said:
If these people are paying for their health insurance, you can asume they have the money for the co-pay and even the deductible.

With health insurance you go see your doctor.
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In this very thread, there has been someone saying they do not have the money right now to pay $30.
 
clownboy said:
That's just not true. They do not refuse EMERGENCY, life saving care. They can and do refuse non-emergency, non-life threatening care to those who cannot pay.
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Right now you could walk into any emergency room in the country and find people waiting to see doctors who haven't got a penny to their name. Sorry, that's just not the case. The modern ER has been turned into a fast-service doctor's office for the poor.
 
Mason66 said:
If these people are paying for their health insurance, you can asume they have the money for the co-pay and even the deductible.

With health insurance you go see your doctor.
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Again, another thread covers this. False assumption given Obamacare and the mandate.
 
Cephus said:
Right now you could walk into any emergency room in the country and find people waiting to see doctors who haven't got a penny to their name. Sorry, that's just not the case. The modern ER has been turned into a fast-service doctor's office for the poor.
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Again, though there are people who visit emergency rooms who are penniless, unless they can demonstrate the ability to pay to admitting personnel their treatment is limited to emergency and life saving care only. You simply do not know what you're talking about.
 
Summerwind said:
Then please explain how one is going to control costs when we can't tax medical devices or employers and we can't limit the cost the government pays doctors?
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The same way we control the costs of any other product or service--by letting the consumer do it.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
You are mistaken Maggie. The docs want the entire deductible up front. That is what my mom just told me anyway. She has been doctor shopping since her old doc won't take Medicare patients which obamacare forced her onto and is being told this constantly.


EDIT: To be more precise they want the entire deductible up front before they accept you as a new patient. If you are already a patient it may be different, I truly don't know.
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Uhm you need to check this doctor out. Seems fraudulent. What if the costs to see this doctor are less than the full deductible? I mean if one's going into a hospital and they require full deductible (been there) that makes sense because the surgery or whatever is likely going to be way more than most any deductible. But a doc's visit shouldn't be over a $200 or so, so what's your mom's deductible and tell me you don't think that deductible is payable over and over rather than accumulative.
 
FederalRepublic said:
The same way we control the costs of any other product or service--by letting the consumer do it.
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Are you entirely ignorant about how costs for most product and services are not controlled at all by the consumer? Seriously, supply and demand aren't even real in the world much anymore with stock market style pricing, not consumer supply and demand, being the manner for pricing.
Additionally since health isn't something someone can hang around and wait for, consumers don't have the time and luxury to wait for any potential supply and demand to set in.
 
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