[Magdalen] health care...

[Ginga Wilder]

Eleanor, this is my experience with Medicare and a top of the line (self
pay) Medigap policy.  When, at age 62, I had breast cancer surgery and 33
radiation treatments 6 years ago and had high cost self pay insurance, the
out of pocket cost  to us was $18000 out of pocket...we're still paying for
that 6 years later.  When the cancer recurred in Spring 2015, I had a
bilateral mastectomy and no further treatment.  The only thing I paid was
for medication that I was given in my overnight in the hospital.

I have not had any trouble in seeing my doctors (4 that I see regularly -
quarterly during the year) and one other that did a neurological workup
because of a fall I had.  This week I will have an MRI of my spine, still
tracing down mysterious symptoms.  I will not pay anything out of pocket
for this.  I thank the government beyond measure for Medicare and Medigap.

I take lots of medications that keep me ticking.  I am in the donut hole
right now.  My monthly bill was $425 in September.  It was over $300 in
August and about $250 this month.  This is hard to pay, but one of my
medications is $600/month and Medicare Part D allows charges of $350.  It
is what it is.

FWIW.
Ginga

On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 3:48 PM, Eleanor Braun <eleanor.braun at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Note - you will be applying for Medicare, not Medicaid.
>
> I'm on Medicare with a Medigap policy from my last employer - the Federal
> Government.  Everything has been easy as pie as I've gone through surgery,
> chemotherapy and followup exams.  I haven't had to pay a dime, and don't
> have to worry about anything.  I get EOBs (explanation of benefits) from
> Blue Cross/Blue Shield, my Medigap coverage, when I have appointments, but
> those are just for my information.  Medicare gives me an annual statement
> about what was spent.  This is only one step away from single payer, and I
> would hope that we can get there sometime.
>
> On cancer treatment, there was a fascinating series on PBS, called "Cancer:
> the Emperor of all Maladies
> <http://video.pbs.org/program/story-cancer-emperor-all-maladies/>."  It
> tracks how scientists have gradually learned more about the disease(s), and
> how each step forward was seen as the magic bullet, until they found out
> that it wasn't.  Now scientists are moving into immunotherapy, the newest
> magic bullet.  What I came away thinking is that great progress has been
> made against cancer, there is still a great deal to be learned, and we have
> to just keep working toward the assortment of treatments to make it less
> fatal and extend the quality of life.
>
> Eleanor
>
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 1:03 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > just another turbulent topic in the news... Health Care..
> >
> > What do you folks think about all the recent (several years now)
> > information that decades of cancer treatments have been ineffective in
> far
> > broader ways than the general public was aware, 'discoveries' about the
> > need for less mammograms/pap smears, , etc, etc, etc... For me this has
> > translated into what my insurance company will allow based on US
> Government
> > *guidelines*... and I am beginning to become a bit cynical about how much
> > more the government is going to 'discover'  that will affect insurance
> > coverage.
> >
> > I'm already waiting for my annual exam to see how it is 'billed'. A
> friend
> > told me that her one annual exam this year (a few months ago) was billed
> as
> > two (one covered by insurance, one not covered but shifted to her
> > pay-to-reach-deductable category). Her regular exam, considered
> > 'preventative' (a big huge tenant of the National Health Program
> Umbrella),
> > turned into a second visit as well when the doctor ordered several
> > diagnostic blood tests along with the 'preventative blood work'.  She was
> > billed  for a partial payment on her preventative visit and billed the
> > whole shebang on the diagnostic 'visit'.... Doctor's office stood by the
> > way the insurance company looked at it and she had a $150. doctor  bill
> for
> > the ordering of one blood test.
> >
> > Makes me wonder if one could just find out from the doctor ahead of time
> > that this blood work would be 'needed', take care of it on ones own at a
> > local lab and then provide the doctor with the results... AND if that
> would
> > save the additional visit bill for diagnostic, what are we saying about
> > continuality of care in this whole mess?  As we muck about dissing
> > 'socialized medicine' we're creating something less stable and more
> > unwieldy, and still the principles are making $$$ up the wazoo, or maybe
> > it's just the insurance companies making any *real* money these days.
> >
> > Am I becoming paranoid here?  Will the government start deciding who/what
> > can get the kind of treatment a doctor would have heretofore have
> > recommended?  Were all these 'steps', some of which have had phase-in
> plans
> > from the start, intended to cause profit only?    And don't get me
> started
> > about the Medicaid info I read the other day (which I'm counting the 2
> > years + less than a month till I qualify)  which sounded like if I
> collect
> > SS at 66 I might have to pay $350. a month for Medicaid?? (and it didn't
> > sound like a supplement would defray *this* part of the cost).
> >
> > Lynn
> >
> > website: www.ichthysdesigns.com
> >
> > When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have
> not
> > a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave
> me."
> > attributed to Erma Bombeck
> > "Either Freedom for all or stop talking about Freedom at all" from a talk
> > by Richard Rohr
> >
>