[Magdalen] health care...

[Jay Weigel]

Do you have Medigap or one of those other policies which is basically
"instead of" REAL Medicare?

On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 6:46 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thanks for your info Eleanor. I continue to confuse the two different
> Medis.... it is Medicare.
>
> I got my first letter for the next insurance season from my health
> carrier: United Health / Golden Rule.
>
> After a bit of difficulty I looked up what they are calling my summary of
> benefits but they are for this year, not next. All 'research is untouchable
> online (and I presume through agents) until Nov 1 and then I can't wait for
> the online chaos to ensue! LOL.... I waited over an hour on the phone
> several months ago to ask a question and thankfully did get the answer to
> one of 2. The second question was: "what will my 2016 premium be?", and
> they told me to watch the mail. Today's letter was not that info, and where
> it led me online was absolutely nowhere in regard to *my* coverage in the
> future, or to my cost for the same coverage again next year. I did note a
> *new* section addressing the very issue I wrote about earlier.. testing for
> issues that are not preventative. I wonder if there is a fine line when a
> medical issue runs in the family - is testing for that preventative or
> diagnostic? Or does it depend on when/what the test results show?
>
>  I am hoping the letter with the premium price does arrive and I can deal
> with the anticipated increase and not have to enter 'the arena' again...
> it's like walking into the lion's den.  In just a few short years (maybe
> 5?) how could insurance have become so difficult, so much more costly and
> so confusing?
>
> 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
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Eleanor Braun" <eleanor.braun at gmail.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 2:48 PM
> To: "Magdalen" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] health care...
>
> 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
>>>
>>>
>>