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Insurance Companies Suck
- Thread starter ATCDub
- Start date
ATCDub
Lowly Civil Servant
Nothing major, just trying to pick up a script for my wife only to find out that the Dr. needed to authorize the insurance to pay for the prescription that the Dr. wrote. 20 minutes on the cell with GEHA and $208 later I'm finally heading back home. I'm looking forward to filling out yet another claim. I really think it gives the insurance company a chance to ask the Dr. if they wouldn't mind prescribing aspirin instead of axcert.
Wasch_24
2005 BoY
:rofl:
Ditto!!!!:cryloud: :cursing:
scottsins
Official BOTL Consigliere
your guess is actually correct. the ind. co. wants to make damn sure that they really need to pay for the high $$$ script, instead of some cheaper alternative. they insist, then, that the dr. explain/justify their written script to them before they pay.
I'll let your lawyer comment slide for now!
scottsins
Official BOTL Consigliere
also, when trying to figuyre out "wtf?" regarding ins. companies, rememebr that they have all of your premium $ invested and any possible delay/reduction in letting go of that is $$$ in their pocket.
Dubs, I feel your pain. Doc's don't practice medicine anymore...insurance companies do.
ATCDub
Lowly Civil Servant
Strange you should mention that Shawn, I was on a business trip and our driver was a former baby doctor who decided driving a limo and day trading earned him more than paying for malpractice insurance and practicing medicine. (Insert lawyer comment here)
It's interesting that people blame the lawyers. It is big business that is the problem and their lawyers. Every side of a dispute in court has two lawyers theirs and yours. When Shakespere said "first kill all the lawyers" he meant the "lawmakers" or legislators - the ones piling regulatory law upon regulatory law that the lawyers make their money off of. The old English word for lawyer is barrister. Many lawyers are trying to help the consumer but it is your national chamber of commerece which is working behind the scenes with the big medical corporations who are working to at the same time to 1) limit your health care choices 2) raise your premiums and 3) insure when your incompetent doctor causes you wife or kid to go into cardiac arrest on the table because he misuses the instrument that the big medical corporation will only have to pay you a nominal recovery ----just some thoughts
Malpractice premiums are around 140k/year for OB/Gyn's and 100k/year for E.R. docs. If every state would model themselves after Indiana the problem would resolve itself. In Indiana all malpractice suits must be run by a panel of physicians to assess the validity of the suit. It has shut down nonsense lawsuits.
Threre are no doubt problems which involve frivolous lawsiuts and consideration should be given to ensure fairness to all -doctors included. But people do not understand how the conglomeration of the big med corps have ruined medicine - just listen to your local doctor and see if he/she complains more about lawyers or the insurance co/med corp HQ as far as how it affects his/her ability to render reasonable serivces to us. It was the big med corps who were, by the way, behind the failed anti tobacco measure in CA - they are greedy and almost monopolistic - their vilification of lawyers while in part justified is also in part a ploy - just that they are not our friends either and for the problems in the medical prof to be fixed that aspect has to be addressed - its a very interesting national problem.
I think the discussion had deviated to malpractice costs. Which is the only reason I addressed frivilous lawsuits. Which is a bigger pain for physician's? That's like asking if you want a root canal or a vasectomy. The large insurance companies make it very difficult to practice medicine. When I would like to put someone on Celebrex instead of Naproxyn that always gets kicked back to me. They don't realize that the patient has a history of gastric ulcer disease hence the reason I opted for the more expensive drug. I then have to set aside one staff member to cut through the red tape of prior authorization. It's a serious drain on the clinic's resources and it ties my hands. Patients are not getting the best care due to this huge problem. So, I think we see eye to eye on that issue. As for malpractice costs, most of that problem is frivilous lawsuits. Insurance companies do play a small role because they limit decisions and that could lead to inadequate care.