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The Illicit Perks of the M.D. Club

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Lyme Disease
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Posted 6/30/2016 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
Good to know they're at least looking after themselves..

www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/opinion/sunday/the-illicit-perks-of-the-md-club.html
Posted 6/30/2016 5:46 PM (GMT 0)
My insurance co has told me twice now that they will no longer cover any thyroid meds other than Synthryoid. I stayed with the same company both times, but had changed policies to one that specifically said they cover the other thyroid meds.

And this sure says a lot!!! " Wendell Potter, a former Cigna executive turned whistle-blower and a co-author of the recent book “Nation on the Take,” says that “insurance companies profit by introducing hurdles in the coverage and claims process.” These hurdles lead some patients to simply give up and pay or forego treatment altogether. He calls this the companies’ business model."
Posted 6/30/2016 7:28 PM (GMT 0)
So, so sad. So basically I have to ensure that one of my kids becomes a doctor in order for me to not go broke in my old age.
Posted 6/30/2016 8:24 PM (GMT 0)
And to get the care you need, Krimpet.
Posted 6/30/2016 8:26 PM (GMT 0)
Exactly!!!!
Posted 6/30/2016 10:14 PM (GMT 0)
Time for a shift in the system, that is what I am dreaming, that is what I am imagining - the day when we can contribute to something and use what is there as a resource to access resources that HELP HELP HELP us. Be it massage, sacral cranium work, chiropractic, naturopath, traditional western medicine, traditional chinese medicine..that we as a species shift and say ENOUGH!
Posted 6/30/2016 10:23 PM (GMT 0)
At least you can fight with your insurer.

Come to Ontario.

You get nothing. Except to hear about how much healthcare costs as I waste ELISA after ELISA on public dime. My GP can tell me that I have been treated for lyme disease, after treating 30 days of doxy @ 200 mg/day (2 years after bite), even though he believes I never had it, due to lack of the bullseye rash. He writes my insurance papers for me and charges me because its not covered under the government plan.

I submit them to my insurance company and they are denied as there is nothing wrong with me. Through the system you go. No thank you! I get told to go to the states, where my insurer doesn't recognize anything. I spend 30% of my income on healthcare taxes alone, and get this instead. I can get all the specialists I want etc, but I will lose wages doing it for them to tell me nothing. I can't afford to go to the states because of the health tax cost of living here, where they are happy to medicate me on gov dime and tell me to be quiet in the corner and stop crying because I'm being a baby. Insert memory of lying on emergy room floor throwing up while the staff casually laughs and talks about their weekend in the background. 18 hrs on emerg floor (I couldn't sit in a chair), vomitting and convulsing to find out I need an emergency appendectomy as it could burst at any minute. Love it. Sorry I don't know where this came from!
Posted 6/30/2016 11:22 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Asmoline!-

Oh my goodness!!! I am so sorry that you had to go through that awful E.R. experience. That sounds so scary!

And it is so sad to hear your GP tell you that the 30 days of Doxycycline is all you need to cure Lyme disease. There are probably a lot of patients that think this. So after the 30 day treatment they think that they are " cured of Lyme".

When I found out that I was positive for Lyme, my Doctor gave me 30 days of Doxycycline. When I went back the next month, I was so fatigue, stuttering, and didn't even know how I drove to his office. At least he was a knowledgeable doctor about Lyme disease. He looked at me and said, " oh no! you need to see a LLMD right away!"

It is so sad with the healthcare system, insurance companies, and the government!
Posted 6/30/2016 11:46 PM (GMT 0)
Used to work for a big insurance company in the small business section. Across the hall was the claims dept. Hubby was in college and to save money I was in a research study for birth control pills with follow-ups once a month.

As time went on I started having these explosive headaches so bad all I could see was white. It would take me a bit to recover from them.

At my monthly checkup I told the doctor about the headaches. In front of me, the doc and the nurse started arguing about whether I should continue the study or not. Doc was yes, nurse was get off the pills. I voted no more pills. They set up an appt. for a neurologist to examine me.

I go to the appt and in strides this guy sporting a mustache and goatee with a bevy of students around him. He asks me how long the headaches were. I honestly had to clue, the pain was so sudden and intense. He deemed nothing was wrong with me and marched out.

A month goes by when a friend of mine from claims comes in. She had picked my file and against the company procedure paid my claim. She had seen one of my episodes and knew I wasn't making it up. Yeah, the neuro charged around $2,000 for his valuable time.

I saw both sides of the industry hard at work with that experience...
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