[[email protected]]

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:28:11 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:25:54 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 22 Mar 2017 20:44:46 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

When I was in DC I spent a lot of time around doctors, some of the
best in town. (My ex was the senior "lay" person in a big DC hospital
administrative staff) I found the surgeons to be the most skilled.
They have a trade that requires physical ability. They actually fix
things. The rest just throw pills at you and hope the problem goes
away.


Naive to the point of absurdity.

OK what do non-surgical doctors do to cure you? You get pills,
injections, creams or something you shove up your ass.
These days that choice seems to depend on the sales pitch and freebies
they get from the drug salesman as much as anything.

My guy, an internist, has found things that he didn't treat, but he did send me to the right guy for
treatment. The abdominal aortic aneurysm was the most significant of his findings. The surgeon who
repaired it called him a miracle worker for finding it.

You got lucky. There are plenty of quacks in the medical profession.
They told my wife she needed an emergency appendectomy. This was not
the laparoscope deal, it was a cut you open and look around thing. She
ended up with a scar that looks like she lost a sword fight and it
took a year of rehab.
They did not find anything wrong. oops sorry, but good news, your
insurance covered it. (back when insurance covered stuff)
I have already told you all about the easter egg hunt they went
through my insurance coverage on for my wrists, turns out nothing
there either. (One PT session where the girl told me to do what the
doctors told me not to do)
Doctors seem to just keep doing stuff as long as your insurance will
pay.

[Tim]

"Doctors seem to just keep doing stuff as long as your insurance will
pay. "

In many cases it kinda seems that way, doesn't it?

[Keyser Soze]

On 3/23/17 11:40 AM, Tim wrote:
10:10
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 04:49:10 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

On Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 11:21:01 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 22 Mar 2017 19:09:26 -0700 (PDT), Tim
- show quoted text -
You can always say no and find another doctor
....

Oh I will. I've learned a valuable lesson. When the battery goes out on this thing I won't have it replaced. I'll have it removed. I'm aware of the complications of the lead wire removal too. Only takes 20 min. to install and maybe 4 hrs to pull everything out. They say once you have it you may as well keep it. Nope! I'm 61 and I'm not going to have this thing dictate my life.



I'm sure Fretwell will be delighted to serve as your medical advisor,
and at no co$t either, except perhaps your life.

[Keyser Soze]

On 3/23/17 11:47 AM, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:28:11 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:25:54 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 22 Mar 2017 20:44:46 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

When I was in DC I spent a lot of time around doctors, some of the
best in town. (My ex was the senior "lay" person in a big DC hospital
administrative staff) I found the surgeons to be the most skilled.
They have a trade that requires physical ability. They actually fix
things. The rest just throw pills at you and hope the problem goes
away.


Naive to the point of absurdity.

OK what do non-surgical doctors do to cure you? You get pills,
injections, creams or something you shove up your ass.
These days that choice seems to depend on the sales pitch and freebies
they get from the drug salesman as much as anything.

My guy, an internist, has found things that he didn't treat, but he did send me to the right guy for
treatment. The abdominal aortic aneurysm was the most significant of his findings. The surgeon who
repaired it called him a miracle worker for finding it.

You got lucky. There are plenty of quacks in the medical profession.
They told my wife she needed an emergency appendectomy. This was not
the laparoscope deal, it was a cut you open and look around thing. She
ended up with a scar that looks like she lost a sword fight and it
took a year of rehab.
They did not find anything wrong. oops sorry, but good news, your
insurance covered it. (back when insurance covered stuff)
I have already told you all about the easter egg hunt they went
through my insurance coverage on for my wrists, turns out nothing
there either. (One PT session where the girl told me to do what the
doctors told me not to do)
Doctors seem to just keep doing stuff as long as your insurance will
pay.



My GP sent me to an orthopedic surgeon, a damned good one, to further
investigate my wrist problems. He was very careful with tests and
x-rays, and also sent me to a good rheumatologist for co-consult, and
who ran a series of different blood tests. They concurred on carpal
tunnel rather than a couple of immune diseases and while they were
deciding, I took some steroids. I had one wrist/palm done and then the
other, first class surgery, and I've enjoyed a great recovery. I'm sure
my health insurance was hit hard, but my out of pockets were limited to
$10 for each doctor's visit and a total of $400 for both surgeries.
That's why I pay for the good insurance. Oh...and the insurance covered
OT afterwards for both wrists.

I trust my doctors.

[[email protected]]

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 12:46:14 -0400, Keyser Soze
wrote:

On 3/23/17 11:47 AM, wrote:

You got lucky. There are plenty of quacks in the medical profession.
They told my wife she needed an emergency appendectomy. This was not
the laparoscope deal, it was a cut you open and look around thing. She
ended up with a scar that looks like she lost a sword fight and it
took a year of rehab.
They did not find anything wrong. oops sorry, but good news, your
insurance covered it. (back when insurance covered stuff)
I have already told you all about the easter egg hunt they went
through my insurance coverage on for my wrists, turns out nothing
there either. (One PT session where the girl told me to do what the
doctors told me not to do)
Doctors seem to just keep doing stuff as long as your insurance will
pay.



My GP sent me to an orthopedic surgeon, a damned good one, to further
investigate my wrist problems. He was very careful with tests and
x-rays, and also sent me to a good rheumatologist for co-consult, and
who ran a series of different blood tests. They concurred on carpal
tunnel rather than a couple of immune diseases and while they were
deciding, I took some steroids. I had one wrist/palm done and then the
other, first class surgery, and I've enjoyed a great recovery. I'm sure
my health insurance was hit hard, but my out of pockets were limited to
$10 for each doctor's visit and a total of $400 for both surgeries.
That's why I pay for the good insurance. Oh...and the insurance covered
OT afterwards for both wrists.

I trust my doctors.

In my case I ended up with 2 MRIs, a bunch of blood tests and enough X
rays to light up a small city. I had 3 different kind of braces/cuffs,
Prednisone, Dichlofenac, Ibuprophen, Naproxen and finally a
prescription for Methotrexate that I threw in the trash as soon as I
read the warning pamphlet. (the others are pretty scary too)
When I went back to the sports doctor who started this mess he sent me
to the PT girl. She said I should throw away all of the braces, stop
the drugs and do all the things that they told me not to do. In a week
I was cured. Looking at my EOBs, these *******s bled my insurance for
over $100,000 for over a year and never fixed a thing. The $50 an hour
PT girl could have fixed me on day one.
The rheumatologist that gave me the Methotrexate was the biggest quack
of all. He did not do any tests, looked over the records and sent me
on my way with a diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis because his only
other thing would have been Rheumatic Arthritis and that was already
eliminated by the RH factor test. I knew how that one was going to
come out as soon as I read the posters in his waiting room. It was the
only two bullets in his gun.
I have already said the doctors I knew in DC were much better than the
ones down here and I did have a wife inside the tent to warn me off of
the quacks up there. There were plenty of them. All the people she
worked for could do was deny privileges and that was not as easy as it
should be. There was a (PSRO) meeting once a week to discuss how the
hospital could side step malpractice suits and mitigate the damages if
they couldn't. Listening to the recap of that meeting was depressing.

[Tim]

11:39 AMKeyser Soze
- show quoted text -
I'm sure Fretwell will be delighted to serve as your medical advisor,
and at no co$t either, except perhaps your life.
.....
Can't be much worse than the people who get payed well to perform unnecessary procedures.

[[email protected]]

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:42:59 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

11:39 AMKeyser Soze
- show quoted text -
I'm sure Fretwell will be delighted to serve as your medical advisor,
and at no co$t either, except perhaps your life.
....
Can't be much worse than the people who get payed well to perform unnecessary procedures.

In just about any other context, Harry would be complaining about the
"pay for service" model of American health care. It is amazing how he
can work both sides of the table so well but I guess it is natural for
a person who pimps government unions.

[Mr. Luddite]

On 3/23/2017 2:23 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:42:59 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

11:39 AMKeyser Soze
- show quoted text -
I'm sure Fretwell will be delighted to serve as your medical advisor,
and at no co$t either, except perhaps your life.
....
Can't be much worse than the people who get payed well to perform unnecessary procedures.

In just about any other context, Harry would be complaining about the
"pay for service" model of American health care. It is amazing how he
can work both sides of the table so well but I guess it is natural for
a person who pimps government unions.



A few months ago (at the recommendation of a couple of veteran friends)
I applied for health care services through the VA. I haven't had a
primary care physician for a while (he unfortunately died at a young age
of leukemia) so I was basically starting from scratch.

Turns out *all* vets are eligible for health care through the VA as long
as they served at least 24 months and have an honorable discharge.
There is a means test of sorts but some forms of income are not
considered, nor are your bank accounts and your income only contributes
to the determination of what priority classification you are eligible
for. There are 8 classifications, 1 being the highest, 8 the lowest.
You could be a multi billionaire but if you are an honorably discharged
vet, you will still qualify, although probably in the lowest (8)
priority classification.

So, the VA sent me a letter welcoming me and sent a booklet that is
personalized for what types of services, hospitalization, checkups,
tests, etc. that I am eligible for. In total, I have better coverage by
far than I had under the Blue Cross policy that we used to pay $1,400 a
month for. I even have coverage for nursing home expenses and/or full
time home nursing services if the day ever comes that I need them.

The VA assigned a primary care physician in a VA clinic that is about 5
miles from my house. I've had three appointments so far, including full
blood work, colon-rectal cancer tests and other tests to establish a
baseline. The doc spent over an hour with me at the first appointment
getting background data, etc. BTW ... related to a recent thread here
.... one of the questions was if I had guns in the house and, if so, are
they secure.

Anyway, the only thing wrong with me is slightly elevated blood
pressure. Doc said it's not "horrible" but prescribed some meds to get
it a bit lower. I don't like taking meds and I know that once I get
more physically active once the cold and snow stops my BP will drop but
in the meantime I'll take the meds.

My only out of pocket cost is an $8 co-payment for a 90 day supply of
the pills. If I need to be hospitalized for some reason there is a $97
per day co-payment for the first 21 days. After that, there is no
payments by me. No co-payments for doc visits, checkups, tests, etc.

The VA is totally independent from Medicare and the VA does not charge
Medicare for services. I am seriously thinking about dropping Part B
and it's cost and dropping the gap insurance policy I have for Part B
through Tufts. I don't need them if I use the VA for health care which
will save me about $350 a month.

Bottom line is: The VA isn't a health insurance program. It's a health
care program. The Boston area VA (which governs the facilities I use)
is the highest rated VA health car are in the nation. So far, I have
been very impressed.

[[email protected]]

On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 07:51:41 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 3/23/2017 2:23 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:42:59 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

11:39 AMKeyser Soze
- show quoted text -
I'm sure Fretwell will be delighted to serve as your medical advisor,
and at no co$t either, except perhaps your life.
....
Can't be much worse than the people who get payed well to perform unnecessary procedures.

In just about any other context, Harry would be complaining about the
"pay for service" model of American health care. It is amazing how he
can work both sides of the table so well but I guess it is natural for
a person who pimps government unions.



A few months ago (at the recommendation of a couple of veteran friends)
I applied for health care services through the VA. I haven't had a
primary care physician for a while (he unfortunately died at a young age
of leukemia) so I was basically starting from scratch.

Turns out *all* vets are eligible for health care through the VA as long
as they served at least 24 months and have an honorable discharge.
There is a means test of sorts but some forms of income are not
considered, nor are your bank accounts and your income only contributes
to the determination of what priority classification you are eligible
for. There are 8 classifications, 1 being the highest, 8 the lowest.
You could be a multi billionaire but if you are an honorably discharged
vet, you will still qualify, although probably in the lowest (8)
priority classification.

So, the VA sent me a letter welcoming me and sent a booklet that is
personalized for what types of services, hospitalization, checkups,
tests, etc. that I am eligible for. In total, I have better coverage by
far than I had under the Blue Cross policy that we used to pay $1,400 a
month for. I even have coverage for nursing home expenses and/or full
time home nursing services if the day ever comes that I need them.

The VA assigned a primary care physician in a VA clinic that is about 5
miles from my house. I've had three appointments so far, including full
blood work, colon-rectal cancer tests and other tests to establish a
baseline. The doc spent over an hour with me at the first appointment
getting background data, etc. BTW ... related to a recent thread here
... one of the questions was if I had guns in the house and, if so, are
they secure.

Anyway, the only thing wrong with me is slightly elevated blood
pressure. Doc said it's not "horrible" but prescribed some meds to get
it a bit lower. I don't like taking meds and I know that once I get
more physically active once the cold and snow stops my BP will drop but
in the meantime I'll take the meds.

My only out of pocket cost is an $8 co-payment for a 90 day supply of
the pills. If I need to be hospitalized for some reason there is a $97
per day co-payment for the first 21 days. After that, there is no
payments by me. No co-payments for doc visits, checkups, tests, etc.

The VA is totally independent from Medicare and the VA does not charge
Medicare for services. I am seriously thinking about dropping Part B
and it's cost and dropping the gap insurance policy I have for Part B
through Tufts. I don't need them if I use the VA for health care which
will save me about $350 a month.

Bottom line is: The VA isn't a health insurance program. It's a health
care program. The Boston area VA (which governs the facilities I use)
is the highest rated VA health car are in the nation. So far, I have
been very impressed.


===

It's good to know that the VA is delivering quality service for you
and that some parts of the government are working well. The guys that
have been wounded in action deserve nothing but the best.

[Mr. Luddite]

On 3/24/2017 9:06 AM, wrote:
On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 07:51:41 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 3/23/2017 2:23 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:42:59 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

11:39 AMKeyser Soze
- show quoted text -
I'm sure Fretwell will be delighted to serve as your medical advisor,
and at no co$t either, except perhaps your life.
....
Can't be much worse than the people who get payed well to perform unnecessary procedures.

In just about any other context, Harry would be complaining about the
"pay for service" model of American health care. It is amazing how he
can work both sides of the table so well but I guess it is natural for
a person who pimps government unions.



A few months ago (at the recommendation of a couple of veteran friends)
I applied for health care services through the VA. I haven't had a
primary care physician for a while (he unfortunately died at a young age
of leukemia) so I was basically starting from scratch.

Turns out *all* vets are eligible for health care through the VA as long
as they served at least 24 months and have an honorable discharge.
There is a means test of sorts but some forms of income are not
considered, nor are your bank accounts and your income only contributes
to the determination of what priority classification you are eligible
for. There are 8 classifications, 1 being the highest, 8 the lowest.
You could be a multi billionaire but if you are an honorably discharged
vet, you will still qualify, although probably in the lowest (8)
priority classification.

So, the VA sent me a letter welcoming me and sent a booklet that is
personalized for what types of services, hospitalization, checkups,
tests, etc. that I am eligible for. In total, I have better coverage by
far than I had under the Blue Cross policy that we used to pay $1,400 a
month for. I even have coverage for nursing home expenses and/or full
time home nursing services if the day ever comes that I need them.

The VA assigned a primary care physician in a VA clinic that is about 5
miles from my house. I've had three appointments so far, including full
blood work, colon-rectal cancer tests and other tests to establish a
baseline. The doc spent over an hour with me at the first appointment
getting background data, etc. BTW ... related to a recent thread here
... one of the questions was if I had guns in the house and, if so, are
they secure.

Anyway, the only thing wrong with me is slightly elevated blood
pressure. Doc said it's not "horrible" but prescribed some meds to get
it a bit lower. I don't like taking meds and I know that once I get
more physically active once the cold and snow stops my BP will drop but
in the meantime I'll take the meds.

My only out of pocket cost is an $8 co-payment for a 90 day supply of
the pills. If I need to be hospitalized for some reason there is a $97
per day co-payment for the first 21 days. After that, there is no
payments by me. No co-payments for doc visits, checkups, tests, etc.

The VA is totally independent from Medicare and the VA does not charge
Medicare for services. I am seriously thinking about dropping Part B
and it's cost and dropping the gap insurance policy I have for Part B
through Tufts. I don't need them if I use the VA for health care which
will save me about $350 a month.

Bottom line is: The VA isn't a health insurance program. It's a health
care program. The Boston area VA (which governs the facilities I use)
is the highest rated VA health car are in the nation. So far, I have
been very impressed.


===

It's good to know that the VA is delivering quality service for you
and that some parts of the government are working well. The guys that
have been wounded in action deserve nothing but the best.



Yeah, I was a little skeptical at first given all the bad press the VA
has received over the years ... some areas deservingly so ... but so
far my experiences have been very positive. Friendly people and
virtually no waiting for your scheduled appointments. Longest "wait"
I've had was six minutes beyond the scheduled appointment time.