This would never happen if only healthcare reform would pass..

[terry]

ChoppinBroccoli  (415 posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Mon Mar-01-10 01:13 AM
Original message
My Recent Experience With "The Best Healthcare In The World"
   
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I just wanted to weigh in with one man's opinion, and this just happened yesterday, so it's fresh in my memory. It's not life-altering or a story that's going to move mountains. It's just another story to add to the mountain of others that prove that in this country, we do not, by any stretch of the imagination, have "the best healthcare in the world."

blah blah blah I had a cold, I felt really bad, thought it might be something more serious..

By Saturday evening, my wife convinced me to go to the doctor, but since it was Saturday night, I had to go to UrgentCare. The co-pay for UrgentCare is $10.00 higher than it is to see my family doctor, but at this point, I was willing to pay it. I left at 5:00 p.m. and figured I'd be the only one there. When I got there, the waiting room was full. It took 2 hours to get in to see the doctor. The doctor thought he heard some fluid in my lungs and took X-Rays to check for pneumonia. The X-Rays showed no evidence of pneumonia, so the doctor wrote me a prescription for super-strong antibiotics and a super-strong cough medicine. At 7:00 p.m., I called my wife (who had called my phone 4 times wondering where I was) and told her I was on my way to Target to pick up my prescriptions. I got to Target, walked inside, walked back to the pharmacy, and discovered that they close at 6:00 on weekends. So I called my wife and asked her to check the internet for pharmacies open later, because there was no way I was going to suffer through another evening like I had the night before.

After several failed attempts and even more less-than-helpful websites, my wife found a CVS with a 24-hour pharmacy. It was a pretty good drive from where I was, but I was willing to drive it. So by the time I got there, it was about ten minutes to 8:00. I gave the pharmacist my prescriptions and she told me it would be about a 15-minute wait. About 5 minutes later, she calls me back up to the counter and tells me that she can't fill the prescription because the doctor never wrote MY name on it. I told her the UrgentCare was open until 8:00, so she could probably catch them if she called right away, which she did. 5 minutes later, that problem was solved.

Then she realized that that was the first time I'd gotten a prescription filled at CVS and said she needed to take my information. So she took all my info, and then asked for my insurance card. I pulled it out and handed it to her. A few minutes later she looks at the card, frowns, and says, "Um, do you have another card?" I said, "No, that IS the card." She goes to the back and talks to a few other people, comes out and says, "I don't see a prescription drug number on this card." I told her, "I guarantee you I have one because I've been getting prescription drugs at Target for 4 years......with THAT card........and they always cost ten bucks." She frowns again and starts clacking away at her computer. After a good 15 minutes, she informs me that the computer is rejecting the prescription and telling her that I have no prescription drug coverage. I once again assured her that I did, and Target never had any trouble accessing it. She asked if she could call Target to get it and I told her that Target's pharmacy closed at 6:00; that was the only reason I was even there.

Once again, after much typing away at her keyboard, she informed me that my coverage was being rejected, so I would either have to pay full price or just wait until tomorrow and go to Target. I asked her how much full price would be and she told me that it would be $70.00 just for ONE of the prescriptions. So I asked her if she could call the phone number on the back on the insurance card and try to straighten things out with them directly, and she did. She stayed on the phone a good half-hour with UNITED HEALTHCARE (I want everyone to know exactly who we're dealing with here, so for the people in the cheap seats, that's UNITED HEALTHCARE). The woman on the other end of the line........at UNITED HEALTHCARE..........told her she couldn't find an active prescription drug plan for me. She said she checked MedCo, and I didn't have a plan there, but I might have a plan with some other company (the name of which no one ever told me), and she would transfer the pharmacist to their phone system, but she wasn't sure if they were still open. By this time, I could see the writing on the wall. The pharmacist stayed on hold for a good 20 minutes more (much longer than I would have ever remained on the line), only to find out that they didn't have my name in their computer either. So I was sunk. According to.........UNITED HEALTHCARE.......I had NO prescription drug coverage. My only choice was to take my prescriptions, go home, and hope I could make it through the night so I could go to Target (where they, and they alone, apparently know how to access my prescription drug plan) the next day. I called my wife from the parking lot, and I was LIVID. I was getting ready to go home and start preparing lawsuits. That's how hot under the collar I was. Not to mention the fact that I had now been out running around town for the last 4 hours feeling miserable when I should have been home resting.

When I was about halfway home, my wife called and told me that SHE went on the computer to.........UNITED HEALTHCARE'S.......website, and discoverd in about ONE MINUTE of looking that our prescription drug plan was through Catalyst, and she had gotten an 800 number to call. So I told her to call CVS with the new information, and I would be turning around and going back. I found out later that my wife first called CVS, found out they needed about 5 different code numbers which she didn't have (and refused to call the 800 number to get them because they needed my physical prescriptions in their hands to do it), hung up, called the 800 number for Catalyst, GOT those 5 numbers they needed, called CVS AGAIN with those numbers, had them refuse to take the numbers because, again, they didn't have the actual sheets of paper that were my prescriptions in their hands, then called me and had me write the numbers down right on the prescriptions, which I did.

By now, it was almost 10:00 p.m., and I was walking BACK into CVS loaded for bear. The pharmacist sees me, smiles and says, "Aha! You DID have another card!" I told her, "No, I never had another card. Catalyst told my wife that they'd sent us a card in 2007, which they never did. And when my wife told them we've been getting prescription drugs under their plan for well over 4 years despite having never received a card, they said, 'Oh. Well, we'll send you out a new one.'" The pharmacist kind of nodded and then started clacking away at the computer again. By now, I was expecting the worst, so I stayed there until I got confirmation that the computer accepted the code numbers. Shockingly, it did, and 10 minutes later, I had my medicine. The pharmacist apologized profusely about all the trouble. I told her I wasn't mad at her. It was that damn UNITED HEALTHCARE I was mad at. Because the woman who answered the phone either didn't bother to look, or was too stupid to know how to look in the right place, and was content to let me suffer terribly through the night in order to either avoid work or save UNITED HEALTHCARE a few bucks. By the time I got home and took my first dose of medication, it was 10:30 p.m., a full 5.5 hours after I'd left.

blah blah blah Story about evil insurance company scaring my wife, while they paid for all her prenatal care.. blah blah blah ...
Now, I ask you does THAT sound like "the best healthcare in the world" to YOU? Does THAT sound like a system you'd be willing to commit violent acts in order to protect? Is this REALLY the best we can do?

And even if you disagree with me on that premise, at the very least, just recognize what a bunch of lowlife bastards UNITED HEALTHCARE are, and refuse to do business with them if you can at all avoid it.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the insurance company I'm talking about here is...........UNITED HEALTHCARE.

link

Dude gets a cold, thinks he has the flu. Goes to the doctor, on a Saturday night, without any appointment he walks in.  Gets in and out with a chest x-ray in less than 2 hours.  Doctor confirms that it is not pneumonia but gives antibiotics and prescription cough medicine any way.
Even with a lost prescription card, Dude is home with medication after having seen an actual doctor, received a chest x-ray and got prescriptions filled all less than 6 hours after having left his house.   If the card hadn't been lost, he'd have been back in his bed with his medication less than 3 hours after leaving his house.

Obama health care reform is going "fix" this "problem".   What does this guy expect?  Dr. House and his team to show up at his door as soon as his nose starts to run?  Really?  He really thinks that he's going be better served with government health care? 

evil republican chimes in

multidoc666  (1 posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Mon Mar-01-10 06:58 PM
Response to Original message
29. You are big part of what is wrong with american healthcare, not (for once) UHC
   
First of all you decide to see a medical doctor immediately -- because you have a bad cold or flu. That's NOT an emergency situation. You are overloading the system.

Then you complain because your copay to get emergency treatment is $10, which is more than your regular doctor. $10 to get an emergency consultation for a cold or flu? What a whiner. You had to wait two hours on a Saturday night to see a doctor? That's most likely because there were so many other people who didn't need emergency care ahead of you.

Next, you don't even know who your insurance company for drugs is? So several other people spend hours trying to find out information that takes your wife a few minutes. You should be ashamed of yourself.

You could have paid for the drugs and then filed the claim forms yourself to whoever your insurance company was to get reimbursed. Apparently this was too much trouble for you; you preferred to not get the medications at all, another example of how sick you weren't.

You demand immediate treatment for a condition that doesn't require it, are willing to pay next to nothing for it, and are willing to take hours of other people's time to find information that you ought to have on you. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, buddy. This was not UHC's fault, but your own.

Not received well..

nadinbrzezinski  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Mon Mar-01-10 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #29
39. BULLSHIT
   
Edited on Mon Mar-01-10 09:47 PM by nadinbrzezinski
any other advanced economy has a health care system that ahem WORKS.

And one where this does not happen

Enjoy your stay buddy.

Oh and by the way, a simple cold can develop some nasty complications some of which, rarely mind you, are fatal.

Oh and I forgot to say... you are what is wrong with this country, some assholes who have no ****ing clue.

Go get a passport and travel around the world and ahem educate yourself.

[thundley4]

These DUmmies are a bunch of p*****s.  It's his own fault for not knowing or having the proper insurance information. I'd only go to a doctor with a very high fever or if the cold lasts more than 7-10 days.

[longview]

Applause for multidoc.

[GOBUCKS]

Everyone has their horror stories about the lazy, inefficient, stupid, and lackadaisical service they get when when the go to renew their drivers' license. Thank goodness we only have to do that once every five years or so. In those enlightened socialist countries the DUmmies love, every time you go to the doctor it's just like the Department of Motor Vehicles. Except you have to wait six months for the appointment. Can you imagine the bouncy tales ?

[Duchess]

  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Mon Mar-01-10 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #29
39. BULLSHIT
   
Edited on Mon Mar-01-10 09:47 PM by nadinbrzezinski
any other advanced economy has a health care system that ahem WORKS.

Baloney. Like that Staffordshire hospital in England, or a Canadian politician coming here for surgery? Like living with cancer for who knows how long as it spreads, because you're at the bottom of a long list for radical treatment? Like filthy hospitals which, if you weren't too sick when you got there, you sure as heck will be when you leave?

AND being taxed up the wahoo for this "advanced treatment"?

[happy1ga]

Hey lurking DUmmies!!

My son had this exact same situation, right down to it being a Sat nite, and turning out to not be pnuemonia. He drove 1 mile to Emergi-care. The doctor saw him within 10 min, gave him 2 shots, 2 scripts, and an X-ray. He was done in 25 min from start to finish. He paid a discount rate of $57.00 (super cheap) cash payment, and drove back 1/2 mi to pharm. Paid $33.00 (discount for cash again) and was home from the whole deal in 1 hr 10 min. He paid with the money his 19 yr old self makes at freakin Papa John's.

Grow up, jerks. Maybe 1 day, you too, can be as mature as a teenager. In the meantime, get a life and quit complaining. You lived, and you are on the damn internet to whine about it. Your life is great.

[kenth]

So, the problem was not UNITED HEALTHCARE, but the dummie's, who did not bother to worry about his insurance until it was needed. His wife evidently isn't as much a dummie, as she found the needed information. He should have taken responsibility for his own life. Instead he's mad at  BIG UNITED HEALTHCARE that saved his dummie ass.

[Chris]

God, what a bunch of crybabies.

Hey, you know who endorses and sells UNITED HEALTHCARE?  AARP, that's who!  If you buy a Medicare supplemental policy from them, you're buying UNITED HEALTHCARE.  Run away, run away!

[Duchess]

So, the problem was not UNITED HEALTHCARE, but the dummie's, who did not bother to worry about his insurance until it was needed. His wife evidently isn't as much a dummie, as she found the needed information. He should have taken responsibility for his own life. Instead he's mad at  BIG UNITED HEALTHCARE that saved his dummie ass.

Because it's not enough that they took a gamble on a DUmmie's azz (and a whiney hypochondriac one at that), but they're supposed blow his nose for him too.

[delilahmused]

How can you not know who your insurer is? He doesn't want to spend ANOTHER night like the last one (which he obviously survived), but he'll spend HOURS driving around so he can swallow some codeine? I get strep throat every single frickin' year. It's miserable and hits me REALLY quickly. Every time I've gone to urgent care or the emergency room and been worried about not finding a pharmacy that was open, I've asked and been given antibiotics there, often with a pain medication chaser. If this guy just had a cold, why would he be given antibiotics? I can see cough medicine but antibiotics would be completely useless in his situation. Even so, why not just get a bottle of NyQuil, take some when you get home and go to the pharmacy in the morning? How sick could someone be if they can spend hours driving around? He bitches about everyone involved from the emergency room to the pharmacy, yet the pharmacist spent a tremendous amount of time she wasn't obligated to spend working on the issue of a belligerent asshole who just HAD to get an oompa loompa  NOW. A problem which wouldn't have existed had he known what company provided his drug coverage. But not once did he even consider his own role in this fiasco. He was inconvenienced by his own uninformed stupidity. No point in being grateful for the time and effort expended on him...he's a DUmmie and entitled.

Cindie

[Carl]

So by the time I got there, it was about ten minutes to 8:00. I gave the pharmacist my prescriptions and she told me it would be about a 15-minute wait. About 5 minutes later, she calls me back up to the counter and tells me that she can't fill the prescription because the doctor never wrote MY name on it. I told her the UrgentCare was open until 8:00, so she could probably catch them if she called right away, which she did. 5 minutes later, that problem was solved.

Then she realized that that was the first time I'd gotten a prescription filled at CVS and said she needed to take my information. So she took all my info, and then asked for my insurance card.

Wouldn`t that had been the first thing they would have done?
I suspect this DUmmy made the mistake of trying to be too detailed to make the story sound true but goofed up here.

[Splashdown]

Thank God that government-run agencies, like the DMV or Social Security offices, never have long lines...

[MrsSmith]

Imagine a world where government never screws up...   

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Again I say: the 13th Amendment should be repealed.

One day you people will believe me.

[The Village Idiot]

Hey ChopBroc

Imagine being in one of those countries. You show up and find out the health clinic is closed on weekends. So you go to the hospital and they ask you who your primary care doctor is, because you MUST have one to get any care. Then they tell you that you MUST be referred by your primary care doctor but he's on vacation. It can take years to get a family doctor, a long waiting list. Finally you complain enough and the nurse gets around to you and writes down your symptoms and gives you a prescription. She decides you won't see a real doctor.

On Monday your even sicker, coughing up blood and you go to the clinic and stand in line. The primary doctor refers you to the hospital and you finally get to get a real examination. The doctor says its likely you have a tumor and need radiation treatment. Then they tell you that you will be contacted in 6 months for a radiation treatment schedule, probably to start in a year. Oh and he tells you that you might be dead by then.

You'd book it for America and you know it.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2jijuj1ysw[/youtube]

[Tantal]

We've had hell with Walgreens before. I don't see it as an indicator of a broken health care system, but rather incompetence on the part of one pharmacy clerk at Walgreens. As stated earlier, 6 hours (which could have been 3 if this weren't a DUmmie) for a doctor visit, chest x-rays, and having prescriptions in-hand isn't bad. One can only wonder how long it would've taken in the people's utopias of workers and peasants.

[franksolich]

Why is the primitive bitching about this?

The co-pay for UrgentCare is $10.00 higher than it is to see my family doctor.....

What's an extra ten bucks when one's at Death's door?

What's an extra ten bucks in this booming Boconomy?

[The Village Idiot]

Just remember what happened to Crowder when he went to Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2jijuj1ysw

[The Village Idiot]

Healthcare in the Real Cuba

[claret1995]

 TERRY

all else aside ,you asked

Obama health care reform is going "fix" this "problem".   What does this guy expect?  Dr. House and his team to show up at his door as soon as his nose starts to run?  Really?  He really thinks that he's going be better served with government health care?  

Cuddy,13 and Cameron can show up at my door any time they desire

[The Village Idiot]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1253438/Mid-Staffordshire-NHS-hospital-routinely-neglected-patients.html

Up to 1200 died needlessly because of neglect (UK "free" healthcare)



http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm

Real Cuba healthcare

[USA4ME]

You could have paid for the drugs and then filed the claim forms yourself to whoever your insurance company was to get reimbursed. Apparently this was too much trouble for you; you preferred to not get the medications at all, another example of how sick you weren't.

No kiddin'.     It goes to show just how lazy the primitives are.  When they want big gov't, you can see why.  They really want someone to hold their hand from cradle to grave.

This primitive outlined the problem with insurance in a way he never intended.  Insurance was meant to cover catastrophic events that happen.  It was never intended to pay for check-ups, or a sore throat or flu, or you broke your nail.  But people didn't want to pay the $50 to the doctor for these small doctor visits, so by getting the insurance companies to pay for it and thus nickel and diming them, the insurance companies raised rates.  Same with prescriptions.  If you have to take medicine on a continuing basis, that's one thing.  But an occasional bottle to get over a minor illness?  That was always meant to be an expense the person would bare.

.

[Texacon]

This story reminded me of that stupid email that went around a couple years ago;

http://www.mail-archive.com/alexbennettprogram@googlegroups.com/msg00543.html

Joe Republican gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to 
prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some 
tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With 
his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His 
medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought 
to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised. All but $10 
of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because 
some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical 
insurance - now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe 
to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the 
meat packing industry. In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his 
shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its 
amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for 
his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it 
contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he 
breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought 
for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks on 
the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-
subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking 
and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for 
affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity 
to be a contributor.


-snip-

Guess what DUmbass.  The laws you liberals claim to have put in place cause 75% of that crap.  Hope you are enjoying your cold.

KC

[dandi]

nadinbrzezinski  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Mon Mar-01-10 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #29
39. BULLSHIT
   
Edited on Mon Mar-01-10 09:47 PM by nadinbrzezinski
any other advanced economy has a health care system that ahem WORKS.

Such as?

 

[terry]

TERRY

all else aside ,you asked

 


Cuddy,13 and Cameron can show up at my door any time they desire

Well, just support the dems and Obama get this health bill passed and they will show up riding that free unicorn you ordered.