Fogbow

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 7:02 pm

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 6:54 pm @r.d.a: about your kid being at grandmother or any other family member: does the insurance not let you register any alternate caretakers? Registering an alternate cc with the caretaker is of course tricky as one cannot know which card will be used.

I dunno, but that is a good question I'll be sure to ask them next time I'm in contact. Which will undoubtedly be soon.

Gavin Newsom @GavinNewsom wrote: California is going to make its own insulin.

It’s simple. People should not go into debt to get life-saving medication.

Judge Karin Crump @karincrump wrote: Texas requires couples to wait 72 hours after the issuance of marriage license before they marry. I just waived that requirement for good cause so that I could officiate over a Zoom wedding for a couple..in their car. 1/3
Husband is about to ship out to the Army and he wanted to ensure that his (new) wife & baby had insurance before he left. I asked if they wanted to get out and stand for the ceremony, but they didn't want to wake the baby + they were in the parking lot of a convenience store.2/3
Despite the unusual and not so formal wedding venue, they were grateful, weepy, and full of joy. I just want to wish that adorable couple a long marriage and a very happy life together!

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 2:25 pm We need real health insurance in this country.

Judge Karin Crump @karincrump wrote: Texas requires couples to wait 72 hours after the issuance of marriage license before they marry. I just waived that requirement for good cause so that I could officiate over a Zoom wedding for a couple..in their car. 1/3
Husband is about to ship out to the Army and he wanted to ensure that his (new) wife & baby had insurance before he left. I asked if they wanted to get out and stand for the ceremony, but they didn't want to wake the baby + they were in the parking lot of a convenience store.2/3
Despite the unusual and not so formal wedding venue, they were grateful, weepy, and full of joy. I just want to wish that adorable couple a long marriage and a very happy life together!

https://twitter.com/karincrump/status/1 ... 9580571650

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 10:00 pm Isn't the 72 hours between license and ceremony antiquated?

Routine births are turning into moneymaking ‘emergency’ events at hospitals that work with private equity-backed staffing companies
Three of the four major companies that set up and staff OBEDs are affiliated with private equity firms, which are known for making a profit on quick-turnaround investments. Private equity has been around for a long time in other medical specialties, and researchers are now tracking its move into women’s health care, including obstetrics. These private equity-associated practices come with a promise of increased patient satisfaction and better care, which can help the hospital avoid malpractice costs from bad outcomes.

But private equity also is trying to boost revenue. Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, calls the private equity encroachment into medicine “worrisome.”

“Hospitals will do what they can do to maximize income as long as they’re not breaking the rules,” Wachter said. “And it sounds like that’s sort of what they’re doing with this ER gambit.”

jez wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 7:08 pm I don't know if this is the industry in general behaving badly. It might be.

A few days ago, got a call from a bill collector. I don't get them often, and if I do, it's typically a bill from a doctor that fell through the cracks from one of my hospital stays. Usually, it's around $100 or less and I just missed it somehow when paying the out of pocket stuff. Anyway, on to the call.

When I talked to the very nice person on the phone (no snark, she was very nice), I asked if they could send me the details on the bill, because the amount (over $500) was odd. Those usually catch my attention and I try to take care of them as soon as possible. Even working out payment plans, etc. Today, I got the invoice for the account, and yes, it's a medical bill. The name of the doctor was on it, along with the name of her group. Looked for both in 2 years worth of EOBs. Only found one. Which, yes, this one fell through the cracks. The EOB said I probably will need to pay $133.40 out of pocket. Fine, I can do that. But there is a balance forward on the bill for almost $400. I have no idea where it came from.

Of course, everything is closed now (7 pm ET) so I'll probably call the group tomorrow and see if they can explain that balance forward. I can find nothing from them going back to March 2021. So, I'm curious about where the balance forward came from.

Wish me luck. I may have to call the insurance company as well to see if they can dig back further than I can see from the website.

Why Drugs Are Disappearing From Your Insurance Coverage
Powerful companies are removing hundreds of medicines from insurance plans — and they’re spending millions to stop attempts at reform.

NOV 29, 2023

For the millions of Americans that take one or more prescription drugs, having a health insurance plan that covers their medications is crucial. The list of covered medications — called a drug formulary — can mean the difference between a $10 copay at the pharmacy and paying thousands out-of-pocket for a vital medication.

Yet unbeknownst to many patients, insurers can change their drug coverage throughout the year, thereby removing medications that enrollees were promised. When this happens, those who lose access to their medicines are usually barred from immediately moving to a different insurance plan. The problem is widespread and growing: In the last nine years, the number of medications being eliminated from many insurance plans skyrocketed by around 1,584 percent.

Drug formularies are dictated by pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs — powerful companies that determine drug benefits on behalf of health insurers, Medicaid Part D drug plans, employers, and other health care payers. These companies negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers to determine what drugs health plans will cover and how much the drugs will cost. The three largest PBMs are owned by major health insurance companies, a form of vertical integration that some health care experts worry may be leading to higher drug prices and lower quality care for patients.

For the same reasons, PBMs are incentivized to only keep drugs on formularies that make them the most money.



https://www.levernews.com/why-drugs-are ... -coverage/