Posted on 05/17/2005 12:04:34 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
Oh, damn. How can I get this white chocolate mocha off my keyboard?
WillPitt's second thread has been locked as well.
Is that a flushing sound I hear as well?
damn.
i never in my wildest dreams thought soap operas had any entertainment value what so ever.
was i ever wrong.
i may have to start watching as the pancreas turns or scams of our lives now that i know that it could even cure my INSOMNIA AND SNAKES IN THE BELLY feeling from all this stress>
BWAAAAAHAAAAHAAHAAAHAAA what a bunch of LOOOOOSERS.
theboss (1000+ posts) Tue May-17-05 03:54 PM
Original message
I'm a healthcare attorney....
I've more or less stayed clear of the whole Andy thing. I don't know Andy aside from a few conversations on here. I hope he is well and gets better. I did talk to somebody at the beginning of all this about the procedure just so I could see what the Medicare rates were for a Whipple Procedure - mainly because the numbers getting thrown around were staggering. I found out that since the procedure is considered experimental, there were no set rates. So I withdrew.
I don't know what's going on now or why Will chose this forum to vent and speculate. If he and Andy are such close friends that they have stayed in each other's homes, one would think that they could have a conversation.
Anyway, the Andy situation did raise some concerns with me from the beginning but I didn't want to jump in then and damage any fundraising. But I think this does provide an opportunity to plan for the future, especially since I was amazed at how many people gave money based on posts on a message board.
Here are my thoughts on what I would think the DU should do next time:
1. In the future, if DU does a medical fund drive, there needs to be a way to confirm the exact nature of the medical crisis, the timeframe involved, and the precise money needed. The person or guardian of the person in crisis needs to sign a HIPAA release which would allow their medical history and bills to be made public immediately. There are steps to protect the person's privacy obviously, but asking for funds pretty much opens yourself up to scrutiny in the first place.
2. The monies need to go to something other than a Paypal account. I trust Paypal and to some degrees, I suppose, I trust Andy and his friends here. But I find it somewhat staggering that $50,000.00 was simply handed to someone. I am by no means implying that this is the case, but in the future, someone could raise this kind of money and fly to the South of France or something. I would prefer some sort of trust be set up and managed by a trustworthy third party.
At the time of the fundraising, time seemed of the essence. But I am not sure that was really the case. For a few extra dollars, an attorney could have been hired to set this up.
3. Someone needs to negotiate with the hospital. I know this industry and understand that hospitals are now in the business of balancing their budgets on the backs of the uninsured. (And we could have a long discussion on this if anyone is interested). But I still find it rather amazing that a dying man needs a $50,000.00 surgery to live and the hospital is demanding payment in full up front. That is simply not my experience as to how these things get done.
The reason I wanted the type of surgery was to see what Medicare would pay if Andy were covered. As I said, it turns out that Medicare does not have a rate for this. And neither did some of the HMOs I investigated. (It's "experimental," which is yet another discussion for another time). I've negotiated payment plans in the past where an uninsured patient agrees to pay 150 percent of the Medicare rate or 125 percent of the UHC rate. And I've been able to set up these plans over a period of months and years.
I'm still a little stunned that Johns Hopkins would behave like extortionists.
4. There needs to be some sort of forum set up to discuss this specifically. Or we end up with dozens of threads clogging the site.
I am sure I am missing some thoughts, but this whole episode has been remarkable to view from a distance. And I am not passing judgment on anyone. Hopefully, we can all learn from this.
I think I hear a cyber-shredder humming in the background...
I guess that's what I'm trying to figure out.
It's not just the defense thing but the elaborate rationalizing that follows it. That's why I was convinced that Sfexpat was Undie.
VARRY STRAANGE!!!
Okay, we need somebody with a DU account willing to out themselves to go over and post that pic. Priceless!
OMG, how do they post this with a straight face?
Easy; they don't know any better.....
I don't know. That's pretty rich, isn't it, coming from a group of folks with ABSOLUTELY no sense of humor at all.
What was on your link? It didn't open correctly.
Are you copying my posts?? LOL
It would appear so! LMAO!!
Oh, good, you are changing the name. At first, I was worried you were stopping the alerts. Don't stop! Everyone is doing great! We can't allow people (even DUmmies) to be taken advantage of this way.
How many thread of the great boring pitt have they killed...?
That was the link to the second WillPitt opus.
Seems EarG is on the case and doing the lock and flush as fast as he can so we can't screen shot anything.
Two so far....
These posts are too funny to be missed the first time...LOL
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