Mediscare blues

[AllenETreat]

The other day I was sorting through my mail and I found a letter
and packet from AARP ( although I'm only 43 ; ya gotta be 50 to be in the
AARP ) stating that the government had signed me up for Rx coverage.

Not that I mind much, but I'm currently covered by my State's Rx
coverage ( which, BTW told me I didn't need to purchase Medicare Rx
coverage ( meaning they "had my back" ))

Personally I think it's a waste of taxpayer dollars for something that's
un-called for in my case.

All this because a bunch of seniors were crossing the border into
Canada to purhcase low co$t prescription drugs.

What do any of you forumites think? This is what you pay taxes for.


AET

[J Smith]

The whole system needs to be redone.
The factor my son takes every other day is 1.77 per unit and he takes 840 units every other day.He will be compltely on state coverage in Dec.Thats when he will have used up his life time max on my work insurance (1,000,000 dollars in 8 years)
This stuff could be much cheaper if the drug companies would not blow so much cash on yearly meetings and ads.

[Gerard Breuker]

I guess this has something to do with medical insurances but I find my language skills completely inadequate to comprehend what this is about.

[spyderknut]

The other day I was sorting through my mail and I found a letter
and packet from AARP ( although I'm only 43 ; ya gotta be 50 to be in the
AARP ) stating that the government had signed me up for Rx coverage.

Not that I mind much, but I'm currently covered by my State's Rx
coverage ( which, BTW told me I didn't need to purchase Medicare Rx
coverage ( meaning they "had my back" ))

Personally I think it's a waste of taxpayer dollars for something that's
un-called for in my case.

All this because a bunch of seniors were crossing the border into
Canada to purhcase low co$t prescription drugs.

What do any of you forumites think? This is what you pay taxes for.


AET

Allen, as taxpayers we are all signed up for Medicare's prescription coverage but I don't thing we are eligible to receive that benefits before regular Medicare coverage would take effect (age 65 or qualifying disability). AARP is just trying to sell you something you don't need. Just toss it out with your other junk mail. :mad:

[Harry White]

I am a healthcare economist/lobbyist. All day long I deal with the mess that is the US Healthcare System. We have a saying, "The system is broken." I could go on for pages, but there are several key problem areas. First and foremost is the failure of managed care to live up to it's promises of lowering healthcare expenditures and improving quality. Instead, HMOs are recording record profits by systemically denying and downgrading legitimate medical claims for reimbursement. Also, the two major governmental payers -- Medicare and Medicaid -- reimburse providers well below the actual cost of delivering the services. Add to that the growing number of uninsured and increased demands for "charity care" or free care, and it's no wonder that the state of the nation's healthcare delivery system is at a crisis point.

The Medicare drug plan that you refer to is a prime example of good intentions and horrendous implementation. The rule is needlessly complex -- rumor has it that the number of people who have read the entire set of regulations can be counted on one hand.

Being a doctor today is no picnic, and as a result fewer people are choosing that path. It's even worse for nurses and medical technicians. Lawyers encourage trivial lawsuits and the resulting increase in medical malpractice insurance has literally forced many physicians out of practice.

I don't have the answer, but the current climate in DC does not offer much hope of serious reform in the near future.

[zenheretic]

...the government had signed me up for Rx coverage.

Not that I mind much, but I'm currently covered by my State's Rx
coverage ( which, BTW told me I didn't need to purchase Medicare Rx
coverage ( meaning they "had my back" ))

Personally I think it's a waste of taxpayer dollars for something that's
un-called for in my case.

AET
I think it would cost significantly more to look at each individual and try to determine if s/he wanted/needed the coverage. They likely took everyone's national id number...er I mean Social Security number above a certain age and automatically enrolled your info. Whether you sign up or not is up to you and your needs. ;)

On another note, most if not all states are grossly underfunded in regards to their pension and healthcare benefits. It is only a matter of time that GM type private slashing of benefits will spill over into the public sector. :eek: Whether that will affect any individual is impossible to predict, but it is prudent to have a "Plan B".

[AllenETreat]

"The Medicare drug plan that you refer to is a prime example of good intentions and horrendous implementation. The rule is needlessly complex -- rumor has it that the number of people who have read the entire set of regulations can be counted on one hand."


I agree Harry. Although I can see the point of the co$t of going person
by person as well - it's sort of a lose / lose situation. The only thing
the government can do is hire more people...

...as for me, I'll just ignore Medicare Rx. ;)

AET

[will_77]

My family doc, whom I know pretty well, just fired his inept billing person, and just outsourced the whole thing to a company for his little practice. They file insurance, collect, etc... So on my last visit, I inquired about the change, and the state of things that "medical billing" has become a self-sustaining industry all its own, and got down to it and asked what their "cut" is... Almost half. Almost half of the money his practice generates goes into feeding a broken beurecracy of billing people. It was either go with them, or close the doors, so he picked the lesser of two evils. Eventually somebody (presumably the gov't) is going to have to do something about this.