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Author Topic: Out Of Control Insurance Costs  (Read 2284 times)
PrimeTimer
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« on: February 01, 2020, 06:38:50 PM »

 :rant;
  Insurance companies and drug manufacturers...ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR EVER-LOVIN' MINDS??  I mean, WTF!

There is no shortage of sick or injured people.  :pray; :stressed; :waiting; >:D  :rant;
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Husband had ESRD with Type I Diabetes -Insulin Dependent.
I was his care-partner for home hemodialysis using Nxstage December 2013-July 2016.
He went back to doing in-center July 2016.
After more than 150 days of being hospitalized with complications from Diabetes, my beloved husband's heart stopped and he passed away 06-08-21. He was only 63.
Kathymac2
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« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2020, 05:32:29 AM »

Amen!  I recently reviewed my Medicare Part C for 2019. My cost of care was over $1,000,000 for the year. This included 7 months of peritoneal dialysis billed at more than $3,000 per day (!) and transplant surgery.  Mind you, I did the dialysis at home by myself - no nursing care needed after the initial training.  Thank God I have good medical insurance, but who is reviewing these "costs"? 
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Simon Dog
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« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2020, 07:38:55 AM »

You were looking at the asking price (I call it the visiting Arab rate) that almost nobody pays, and certainly not Medicare.

Your "cost" was probably not $1M+, but the billed amount was.    Read the Medicare and your part C policy carefully and look a the "Paid" amount, not the "billed amount".

For example, a 100 pack of 10cc syringes with needle is about $30 +/-.  For 100.   Fresenius billed over $50 per needle, just for the supply when itemizing in center treatments.  The insurance always listed that an $0 - included in another service, and Medicare never paid it - nor was I on the hook.

There is nursing care with PD.   The home care RN at the clinic I used had about a dozen patients.  She monitored their labs, coordinate care with them, worked with suppliers and the attending MD. etc.   Assume it costs $96K/year for an RN (once you factor in health insurance, employers portion of SS, office space for him/her to work out of, etc.) and that works out to $8K/year for RN support alone.   

Private insurance paid for my D at 10%-15% of the asking price, accepted as payment in full.  Medicare paid well under 10%, also accepted as payment in full.

Quote
Insurance companies and drug manufacturers...ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR EVER-LOVIN' MINDS??  I mean, WTF!
Their mission is to maximize senior executive compensation, not take care of patients. The later is a byproduct.  Even business school "theory" of how things should work states the mission is to maximize shareholder value.   As an investor, hold on to you wallets when you hear a company you invest in start to talk about "stakeholders".
« Last Edit: February 02, 2020, 07:44:06 AM by Simon Dog » Logged
Michael Murphy
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« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2020, 02:47:03 PM »

It may get worse Comrade Trump is looking at cutting enormous amounts from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to fill the one trillion dollar budget shortfall.   This is the same problem that led to the 1990 and the 2007 economic collapses.  A definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different outcomes.
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jambo101
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« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2020, 04:42:40 PM »

Vote accordingly, a vote for Bernie might be in your best interest..
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Jim
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