Posted on 03/22/2013 12:52:54 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Deep breath.
I am going to write this in the calmest way possible. I am not here to air out dirty laundry but just like my last post back in Jan about Obamacare and law enforcement officials and doctors...this one leaps another level.
I went to a doctor this morning for a follow up to an appointment I went to at the end of January. During my last appointment other than just getting some prescriptions refilled we went over some MRI results and talked about a different course of action regarding an injury.
This morning I show up for a follow up to see how the new scripts are going and what not...I get to the front desk and the doctor's assistant says to me "You have an outstanding balance of $75.00", I said no that is impossible...I pay everything up front for my appointments. I pay cash up front for any visit.
Then she lays it on me.
"Your doctor went 13 minutes over time last visit and you owe $75.00 for it."
I said like hell I do...I paid for a full visit last time like I do every time and why should I suddenly pay more?
Quote "As of January..and the change to the medical laws and rules and the "Affordable Health Care Act", we have to by law charge after 15 minutes for a separate appointment because the first 15 minutes are considered "Prescription Recheck". If anything goes over the 15 minutes it becomes "Therapeutic Visit". If the doctor does not account for his time with you he will be fined $600.00 and he must account for every single thing that goes on behind that door."
She then puts a 2013 medical code book and shows me that there were hundreds of pages of code they were still learning and that they were told to expect a new bigger book in December.
I was furious at the fact that there was no notice of this anywhere and why in the hell am I just being told this now and not when I left the office the last time?
The assistant said "The notices are on the door over there".......................the door to a closet that nobody reads really because it had about 17 pieces of different things written in various sized print. By law all the office has to do is post it but not tell the patients about it.
They have stopped accepting new patients..FOREVER. They have had to close another office they had 65 miles away because since the Newton shootings...there are landlords that do not want to have anything from neurologists to psychologists to psychiatrists (anything brain related) in their building in case "one of them snaps".
I was told to expect it to become much, much, much worse and that people are just not showing up for appointments any longer.
Not that it matters but this was for a neurologist who sees me for a fall from a 2 story house.
My employer doesn't offer health insurance...they can't afford to. So I am compensated more to make up for what they can as far as me handling my own medical care.
A $75.00 extra fee. If he didn't report it he would be brought up for medical fraud and the $600.00 fine would put him on a probation.
I hate typing about my own personal life like this but you know what...this is the kind of thing that needs to be known. My doctor said his hands are tied. He tries every route he can to avoid billing cash patients more and tries to do a discount but has been warned if he does that then he will be charged with fraud as well. That is why he stopped seeing new patients so he won't be shopped.
He said psychiatrists and psychologists are going through some serious problems right now and they are completely turning all cash only. No insurance at all.
My venting is over.
"Consider a concierge or “direct pay” physician. More and more primary care doctors are establishing “concierge” practices. Patients pay an annual fee in exchange for guaranteed 24-hour telephone access and longer personalized consultation time for complex medical problems (as opposed to the rushed 15 minute appointments common in many overcrowded primary care practices). Most concierge physicians will also act as your advocate if you require hospitalization for a serious illness, coordinating your care with the various specialists based on his detailed knowledge of your full medical history. “Direct pay” practices are similar, but without the annual retainer. Because you pay your physician directly, he is not beholden to the government or other third parties. Concierge practices can be a win-win for both patients and physicians. Physicians spend more time with their patients and can practice according to their best medical conscience, for reasonable reimbursement." http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsieh/2012/11/13/5-ways-to-protect-yourself-against-obamacare/
The EO obama issued clarified an earlier statment saying oca prohibited the asking abt gun ownership in the home saying it did not prohibit it. It was not an order that it must be a part of any office visit. I saw my doc not long ago and we talked abt many things, but the issue of guns never came up. This is large, prominent practice, btw. Oh I think obama would like to compel the interrogation, but that would cause too much friction. He is hoping to encourage the discussion, softly, that is what he is up to.
I am rabidly opposed to govt involvement in hc but it is important to accurately understand the climate in order to organize opposition to defeat it. Another thing, re the perils of EHRs, that is a valid concern: be careful and reticent in speaking with not only your doctor but nurses and administrators. Need-to-know basis and all that.
Sounds interesting. I believe we are all going to have to turn to alternative methods, treatments, techniques, etc to keep ourselves healthy. Biofeedback is certainly a good way learn to lower you blood pressure...I don’t know what the limitations might be for someone with seriously blocked arteries, etc. I have used biofeedback and did lower my blood pressure with it. Consistently? Not necessarily, but if I had a worse problem, I’d be more inclined to stick with it.
And I’ve become a food saint. Dreadfully boring, but then, I’m in better shape than people 15 - 20 years younger. Not recommending any special diets...you have to experiment.
And then, of course, there’s regular attendance at the gym. Aaaaargh
Answer to your poll:
I have been paying cash for three decades. Including a couple of bouts with cancer, I am probably two hundred thousand dollars ahead of the game.
um, no. No underground doctors. Won’t happen. Besides, that doesn’t touch the big probelm, which is hospitals. All of you keep saying “doctor bills” when you mean “hospital bills.” I’ve been on this pony for ten years. Doctor bills are nothing compared with the hospital bills.
I got a good friend in Medical Billing and he has not seen anything that would require the DR to do this. I think it may be an instance where the DR made a policy and wants to use the OBAMAcare act as cover.
Simply say "Show Me" then look it up yourself. I think they may be trying to use ObamaCare as a cover to bill extra.
if you need your appendix removed, I'll do it for only $200.00....all that medical school nonsense just raises the price on everything !!.......is that the right side or the left side....oh well, I'll find it...!
thank you for the suggestions - do you have a link for Dr. Campbell’s Daily Dose
Oh, yeah. I bought the Resperate machine a few years ago; for me it was way overpriced, and it didn’t work like they claimed. It was a tiresome and boring exercise machine, very expensive; but, hey, I’ve tried lots of things over the years. If just one thing works, it’ll be worth every penny I’ve wasted. Garlic capsules were the first thing I tried; if only it had been that simple!
Just key in Dr. Wm. Douglass Campbell and Daily Dose on your search engine. He has lots in his archives, sells a lot of stuff but you don’t have to buy. - He’s about in his 70’s I guess, is a former Navy flight surgeon, has testified before Congress; some pooh-pooh him and try to smear him; but I’ve found him to be mostly common sense and human. Doesn’t try to ram his opinions down your throat, but much of what he says is a blessed relief. Uses real research for most of what he says. I’ve found his suggestions have really helped my husband with his glucose levels. I like him.
It is felony insurance fraud to have two fee schedules - one for the government/insurance company and one for private payers.
The status quo is highly unstable, by design - the only thing Obamacare was ever intended to do was to destroy what we have now, and it’s halfway there.
This is how dedicated boutique/direct payment care practitioners are able to function legally, but not practices who maintain a pvt pay fee schedule who also bill third party payers, right?
Thank you for posting this. My lib boss complained just this week that the psychiatrist she took her kid to wanted $400 cash up front. She did not know why, but she voted for it twice.
My Father is 90. He has Lymphoma (in remission) and his Oncologist just sent him in to get a CT Scan.
Now I’m wondering if the Doctor sent him to get it done before it wouldn’t be available / approved.
Looks like I’ll have to ask some questions when I take my Father to the Doctor next month.
Oh yeah, the Scan was negative. Eight years in Remission from Stage Four Lymphoma, amazing.
THANK YOU
“If the wrong people get mad enough, there’s likely to be some ventilating of public office holders that voted for this abomination.”
During the Hillarycare debates, I remember one politician saying that if it passed, the voters would be “hunting Democrats down with dogs.” I concur.
1990s was an entirely different country and older generations were alive still that knew better. Every day we are losing 20, 000 baby boomers on average leaving us with more of the 60s generation running or (ruining) the show and they are doing their best to make sure their communist and socialist teachings, ideology, and laws are left for a new generation to build on....and they have won. Won by taking over our schools, media, and entertainment industries.
I’m sorry; it’s Dr. William Campbell Douglass, not Wm. Douglass Campbell. I always get it backwards.
We private pay everything and get great medical care. The liberals that voted for Obama can simply perish from lack of proper medical care. Suckers.
Between aborting themselves, having terrible eating habits, violence, and lousy or no healthcare, they won’t be lasting long.
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