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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.