There is a doctor practice in town that has been finding reasons to get rid of patients they don't want. It all came out in the paper. They don't like patients who are too complicated or timeconsuming, they get rid of anyone who changes insurance, they don't take Medicaid. I had one patient who told me that she was fired from this practice, the reason given was that she was rude to the receptionist. This patient was a very nice woman, I was really surprised about that. Other reasons being given is when patients live too far away, yet we live far away and I was encouraged to sign our family up there.
Meanwhile, the practice is recruiting new patients. In fact, I had approached the head of the practice about switching our family there because I was dissatisfied with the clinic where we were going which was bought by the hospital where I work and I didn't like the way they were doing things.
Ironically, this practice in known as an all Christian practice, that was one thing I liked about them since they pray for their patients. We haven't gone there yet, but we were accepted as patients. Now I'm worried that if any one of us ends up with chronic problems, we'll get fired as well.
Hi Bandit, I actually will get Medicare right away because they denied me on initial application and its been almost two years already since I initially applied in March of 2006.They give you the back pay and they credit you the Medicare waiting period., because they WRONGLY denied you on initial application.They do this at the ALJ hearing, if one gets approval then. 65% of people who were denied on initial application get approved in front of the ALJ.
I was 54 1/2 when I applied, SSDI uses an antiquated "grid" system and if one does not fit into the "grid" exactly they get denied. I was told by SS that after age 55 you are put into another grid and are approved more easily. If you were over age 55 when you applied you will most likely be approved if your disability meets their listing. My two cousins who have the same spinal issues and Rheumatoid arthritis as I do were actually approved within 4 to 5 months on initial application, BUT they were both over age 55. I am now 56, so I HOPE I get to see the judge soon and get my approval and Medicare.
No I don't think anyone considers me PERSONALLY to be a moocher, but if one reads some of the comments posted about those on Medicaid, they are not very nice, pretty harsh actually.
Ingelein - I didn't know all that about the SSDI - yes, I was 58 when I started the process.
I know it took my DIL with progressive MS a year to get it, and she was far more disabled than I considered myself at that time. She had to see, among others, a psychiatrist, so I was expecting the worst.
At the time disability was first brought up to me, I didn't consider myself 'disabled'. What the heck?!! I just had a little probllem with my hands - what are they talking about? It took me two full years to come to the conclusion that maybe they were right.
As far as Medicaid goes, yes I have a bad attitude toward many who get it, and it's because of some of the personal things I see every day around here. My ex-DIL and her whole family could be poster people for 'Moochers'. They have it down to a fine art! It's those people who give a bad name to the whole system.
A couple of years ago, she dumped her kids off with me - because she had been 'kicked out' of her apartment for not paying rent. They were here for 2 1/2 months, and during that time she never came to see them one time. I found out that during this time, she was still getting her benefits - the welfare checks and food stamps. I reported her to DHS, and was told that they don't investigate until it's been over 2 1/2 months!! At the end of this time, you can bet she was over here trying to get them back - and I wasn't going to let her have them. She was crying and oh, so pathetic - tried sending the police to my house. Well, the police over here know me, and when I told them what was going on, they told her to go away and come back with her lawyer. Isn't it FUNNY that it was right at the 2 1/2 month time limit that she was so hot to have them back.
We eventually had to give them back, but I keep a very close eye on what goes on over there and she knows it - and I get the kids twice a month.
She is NOT an isolated case - there is a whole pack of people who she runs with who live the same way. She's been turned in for drugs twice (not by me) and flunked her drug tests both times. The last time they just told her not to do them in front of the kiddies.
It's because of people like that, and our stupid system, that our taxes are so high. If 'I' were in charge :wink2: things would be different - and people that truly NEEDED help wouldn't have to go thru so much crap just to get help.
The first priority that I would have would be to give those in medical need help, then I would give help to those who are really trying, such as the working poor. Maybe they would need help with medical care, childcare, or rent assistence. And as long as they continued to work, they'd get help until they didn't need it anymore.
The rest would get assistence for a certain time - based upon their finding a job, or going to school. If at the end of a certain period, they had made NO progress, then they're done!
If they have children, they'd better be showing a little responsibility in wanting to provide for them, or they don't deserve to have them. Not everyone will agree with me, but that's not my concern.
For those who want disability for things like ETOH or drug abuse - forget it - I'd pay for a rehab program ONE time, and that's it! Either get OFF the sauce, or live in the street. Hunger is a great motivater.
Bandit, I agree that there are folks out there that are abusing the system and it makes it so much harder for the truly disabled.It makes me very frustrated and sad.
It is the system that is at fault and I think the way that medicaid works is what most are frustrated about. I understand the frustration but I still believe we should not lump all who recieve medicaid into one basket. One shoe does not fit all.
I too get angry and frustrated at the system and all its flaws. Hopefully someone someday will make a change. But until then we all have to deal.
Please remember that Medicaid (per state) is still federally funded; if certain guidelines are not met a state can lose funding--so the attempt for a conclusive across the board regulation exists but enforcement is negligible.
Medicaid saves the live(s) of those who are minor children (under age 18) and had no choice in whether their parent(s) did right or wrong, and many in this country who are minor children having minor children.
Some might add to my second statement that can encourage a higher population due to Medicaid, but it also saves lives; remember why we are in this profession to assess the client, their needs, and interact accordingly.
Medicare will be a part of any working person's life IF THEY MAKE it to that level (retirement or disability) and it is seriously lacking. Meaning those who qualify on this level must have paid taxes in their working life and or be a spouse of someone (retirement) who did or does, not to mention "some" minors disabled prior to adulthood "who never worked" due to profound disability.
We must always be thankful for our profession, and what God provides us with right now. One never knows what could happen; we must not base our treatment of clients ever on insurability for we lose our focus, and in that we are not professionals we are in short, threatening standards of care for those who so need it.
Have a great day!
Karen G.
I do not check in daily so sorry for replying this late!
Specializes in Retired OR nurse/Tissue bank technician.
It's a lot cheaper with universal health care-you don't need staff to go after the insurance companies or deal with Medicare; every doctor's visit costs the same amount to the system based on the doctor's time and speciality.
Any legal resident of the province can get health care and if they live in a province that still has premiums ($40/person/month for full non-cosmetic doctor, hospital and some extended health services) and can't afford them, then sliding scales are in place. The hospital/doctor's care is available no matter what province the patient is in-if I travel to Ontario and need to be hospitalized, I will receive the same level of care without paying out of pocket, same as if I was back home.
The US charges more for services than we do up here; when I interviewed for an OR job in the US a few years back, I asked what the surgeon would be paid for an appendectomy-I was told $3000 just for the surgery, then extra for follow-up every day the patient was in hospital and office visits. The same surgery here would be about 1/6th the cost.
Same thing with medications; my friend in NC and I are on the same drug, similar dose. I have drug coverage, so I pay $25/3 months, but if I didn't I'd owe $1000/3 months. He pays over $3000 for 3 months of medication.
Speaking as a pt who got dumped it's hell on wheels. I have fibro so have been on narcotics for a long time (I'm retired) so I have seen this particular pain doctor for SEVEN or more years! And y'all may remember that I now have bi-polar disorder (another reason to stay retired). Here are the reasons I was given for being "dumped":
I was "dumped" for being a "drug abuser" WITHOUT a drug screen or ANY medical evidence - here is what I was DUMPED for:
excerpt from letter to be sent one day: Even a person WITHOUT BI-POLAR DISORDER WOULD BE INSULTED TO FASELY BEING CALLED A DRUG ABUSER and not allowed to defend themselves. So understandably I got upset at being accused of being a drug abuser.
1.I fall asleep in the waiting room all the time: I find it amusing that I can talk with other patients or read or pray and still sleep all at the same time in your waiting room. As the receptionist's window faces the door and there is little to no view of the waiting room from their window I am unsure of how they saw me sleeping. I have stopped many times at the side desk to pay my co-pay and I was not able to see the waiting room despite having a better angle. I just am having a hard time believing that you would think I could sleep in what many conversations between me and other patients have determined to be chairs that are not the chairs you would expect in a pain doctors office and we all hurt significantly more after our two and a half hour wait to be called back. It is impossible to walk around as there is little room to even accommodate all the patients sitting. I take Seroquel for my bi-polar disorder, a fact I have made you aware of. It causes me to sleep deeply until about 3am, after this despite a comfortable soft mattress with a pillow top I find going back to sleep difficult there fore the possibility of me sleeping in your highly uncomfortable waiting room chairs would be impossible. If your receptionist are referring to the few times I have leaned on my elbow I am either praying for the patients I have just met, it does not matter that I do not know their names God does, or I am very bored as I had forgotten to bring something to read (and the magazines in your waiting room would not interest anybody), or I have run out of conversation with the people I was talking to or they've been called back and no one else has taken their spots. Now on the day of my nerve conduction test I did spend my time in the corner with my elbow on the chair arm AND I was PRAYING - the Bible says not to call attention to yourself when praying or all your rewards are given on earth - so I simply lean my head to the side supported by my elbow on the chair arm and sometimes close my eyes as I was taught to be respective to God when praying. If the receptionist were concerned I was asleep they could have open the glass door and called my name. Since this method of praying calls attention to me I will not use it again. I have found that asking the receptionist when you will be seen is not effective and wastes their time as well as preventing them from doing their duties. So when checking in and possibly asking them a question and checking out are the only times the receptionists see me. AND my sister accompanies me to my appointments as her appointment is on the same day and I talk with her all the while!
2.I am always groggy when checking in: Again I asked you to call my sister in as she would be able to refute it. I find it amazing that I can travel approximately 20 miles with no accidents, no missed exits and not loosing my way when I appear to groggy to even be at my appointment. I am often tired or in PAIN (my reason for being there) and this shows more greatly on my face every year (as I age). You may ask the technician if I am able to get up gather my things and come to the door without being called twice. There have been a few incidents where another patient has a similar name and we both approach and a very few when I sit in the far side of the waiting room. I do not like to sit there as the conservation is better on the other side of the room. And let's THINK - I am taking other drugs for being bi-polar that may make me groggy - duhhhh!
3.My speech is always slurred: As I have had Bell's Palsy for 13 years and indicated this on my new patient form and have repeatedly discussed with Debra as the last time I saw you before the never conduction test was possibly a year or even more- I do not recall the last time you made an assessment of me as a patient. I KNOW I have a very slight slur to my speech. My neurologist in Houston has told me these residual symptoms will never go away, these include a slight slur, slight problems with the eye on the affected side and pain and a light distortion to the side of my face that is affected. I also have difficulty swallowing sometimes and have chocked on more than one occasion. People who have known me for those 13+ years no longer notice the slur. Only people who are meeting me for the first time or who seldom see me tend to notice it. I find my symptoms, backed up by the Huston neurologist, are worse when I am tired, a weather change is coming or it is raining - at those times my symptoms are more exaggerated and therefore more noticeable. Only one doctor has correctly chosen the affected side - all other doctors except my OB doc at the time and ENT doctor he referred me to - miss by a mile. My Houston neurologist and I know he had not read my new patient form because BEFORE he started to read it he said something like "you have Bell's Palsy don't you? And it's on the ___ side"
I believe I was dumped because HE had not evaluated me in YEARS and had just continued on with the same regime DESPITE my comments that I could be decreased or let's try Lyrica...all which were ignored. I think he got dinged on "letting things slide with his long term pts - like just giving them narcotics and not seeing them - I had just been seeing his NP and saw him ONCE a year if even that!!!!
'ing for dumbest dr of the year!
That's all I can share right now and not get to ticked off and sad!
It took me two full years to come to the conclusion that maybe they were right.
It's those people who give a bad name to the whole system.
Noryn
648 Posts
Medicare historically has not been so bad. As a matter of fact years ago Medicare paid enough to make a healthy profit to cover losses from Medicaid.
About 10 years ago though Medicare really began to cut back which has compounded the issue of staying afloat.