INR Test Charges and Payments

[Cooker]

The “clinic” in my cardio’s office charges $21 for a finger stick, I assume that is the discounted price ... my BCBS with my past employer paied all but $9 ... BCBS with my new employer must pay it all ... they don’t tell me I owe them $9 every time now ... maybe I am on a diff level or it could be because it is BSBS of a diff state ....

 

[lance]

That's how it works in Canada ........................

That's how it works in Canada ........................

Hi Lisa and others.
Everyone in Canada is entitled to the care they need paid by taxpayers. Universal health care is what it's called.
There are problems,f course. Notably long wait times to see a specialist, surgeries that type of thing. Walk-in clinics, staffed fully qualified personne, are available. Patients are being asked if they would prefer a "Nurse Practitioner" to tend to lesser ailments not requiring a doctor's time.
Yes, there are abuses.
Patients are triaged where surgery is required with care going to the patients in most need. Valves wait because clogged arteries take precedent. Wait times are the pits. Patients are entitled to seek whichever doctor they prefer, they just have to wait. Money or social status won't "buy" your way in. Those persons go to a different country.
Everyone is better off with universal health care paid by the government even with the inherent problems.
To keep this thread on topic I use an XS and pay for everything. No deductible, or inflated clinic charges.

 

[Lisa in Katy]

Ummm, in Canada it works exactly that way. You need to do some homework.

I've done plenty of homework on this matter, including living in Canada for a while. No, people in Canada don't get to go to whoever they want, whenever they want for whatever they want. They have to get an appointment with their PCP, which often includes a wait, then get a referral from their PCP for whom they might get to request a particular specialist, but they don't necessarily get it. Then they have to wait weeks or months before seeing the specialist. Then if they need a procedure, it is another weeks or months wait. There are lots of posts on this forum from Canadians backing this up.

 

[wcasey5]

The charge for INR testing (finger stick) at the local hospital is $120. Of that, the insurance pays 65, and my copay is $10.52

What I find interesting is that the "negotiated" rate for different doctors is EXACTLY the same. How can that be? The insurance company has a schedule of fees that doctors sign up for?

For those that are wondering, the difference between the U.S. and other industrialized nations health care is intent. The intent of the Canadian system id to provide HEALTH CARE to the population. The intent of the U.S. system is to make money selling health insurance. That is what has to change. There is nothing wrong with profits, but when the health care industry and the health insurance industry have an unlimited reach into our pockets it is an industrial dictatorship. And that is not good. I personally don't care who provides health care, or what form it is in, but it has to be centered on the individual.

About the car analogy that Lisa uses, if you notice, car warranties (covering manufactures problems) used to have deductables. Now most do not, because it costs the company more in reputation than it would take in in revenue, to have a broken down product because someone was weighing getting the vehicle fixed vs. paying the deductable.

Also you can get maintenanceagreements that will take care of wear items like tires, and routine maintenance. You pay a fee, and the company takes care of costs and delivering the service in an efficient manor. Its too bad that health insurance companies can't be held to the same standard.

 

[Bina]

An example form my down the road neighbour: Knee surgeries that are not "urgent" can wait a few months, especially if the patient is overweight. During those few months the patient is encouraged to lose weight or risk doing a surgery again in the future. Common sense, no?
To the other end, my own example is that I saw my surgeon on a second visit where my valve was clearly trashed and he had me zipped into surgery in 12 days.

 

[Bina]

BTW, my cardio in Quebec now works in a half and half clinic.
Public or private......you pick,,,,, if you can pay.

 

[wcasey5]

I've done plenty of homework on this matter, including living in Canada for a while. No, people in Canada don't get to go to whoever they want, whenever they want for whatever they want. They have to get an appointment with their PCP, which often includes a wait, then get a referral from their PCP for whom they might get to request a particular specialist, but they don't necessarily get it. Then they have to wait weeks or months before seeing the specialist. Then if they need a procedure, it is another weeks or months wait. There are lots of posts on this forum from Canadians backing this up.

Insult removed. Please, no personal attacks.

In the U.S., having a PCP give you referals is and impediment to efficient care. In Canada, the PCP is the co-ordinator of care. Once you get a referal to a specialist, you are their patient and can call their office directly and by-pass the PCP. I have NEVER had a request for a particular specialist changed or denied, and why wouldn't you get whatever specialist you wanted? Its not like in the U.S. where certain offices have reciprocal agreements with other providers. All the doctors are independant in Canada.

Your wait times are grossly exagerated. I've waited longer for procedures here in the U.S. than I have in Canada, but it goes the other way as well.

Where did you live in Canada? How long did you live there? Did you use the Canadian system?

I understand that some americans are scared of change, and that your job depends on the general public being in a fog and confused, but that is too bad. It doesn't warrant trashing a system that you know nothing about and haven't experienced.

Is most likely the Canadian system would not work here in the U.S., and there is NOTHING is the current proposals that even comes close to it. but using it to terrorize your fellow countrymen is un-ethical. The United States needs to come up with ITS OWN solution to its problem. And it has to be centered around the individual who is using it!

 

[Lisa in Katy]

wcasey5 - Well, I choose not to tell you what I am actually thinking at this point, but to put it mildly, I find you very rude.

 

[Ross]

Please people, while I know this thread can be a spin off of the Health Care Reform Forum, it is not. I moved a bunch of posts from this thread to that one and it's looking like I have more to move again.

This thread is NOT THE HEALTHCARE REORM DEBATE.

Please be respectable of your fellow members. Personal attacks will result in some real unhappy people. If you feel you must attack, take it to the HCD forum.

 

[njean]

Throw some real facts out there for me Ross and make me believe that..!

Like Jess, I couldn't wait for Medicare and post OHS paid expensive private insurance premiums out the kazoo for ten long years. Medicare is the best thing since sliced bread.. I don't know many folks who aren't satisfied with Medicare, Tricare, the VA System of healthcare and/or Medicaid - all government programs paid for by taxpayers.

Wanna listen to a hoot of a guy. You have to suffer through the 15 second advert first, but it's worth it. Hey Dayton - who is this Sen. Mike Ross of Arkansas? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#32277034

My cardio's office charges $15 for a CoaguChek INR test = self pay, otherwise Medicare pays them around $8 for a test. Both reasonable.

Speaking of Medicare, I got a letter from SS just two weeks ago & I now qualify for Medicare Part A as of 11/01/09!! Yay! I also can apply for Part B which I intend to do & I also have my BCBS Health Ins. too!!!

I'm happy!!

 

[lance]

I've done plenty of homework on this matter, including living in Canada for a while. No, people in Canada don't get to go to whoever they want, whenever they want for whatever they want. They have to get an appointment with their PCP, which often includes a wait, then get a referral from their PCP for whom they might get to request a particular specialist, but they don't necessarily get it. Then they have to wait weeks or months before seeing the specialist. Then if they need a procedure, it is another weeks or months wait. There are lots of posts on this forum from Canadians backing this up.

Yes Lisa, specialists appointments are made through our PCP's offices. I have never been refused a referral to a specialist I'm familiar with. I go along with whomever my PCP recommends. Twice I didn't "like" the person he recommended so I asked for someone else and went on yet another waiting list. Remember though necessity rules and sometimes you get lucky. It's the wait times that are the problem. Last year my spouse developed chest pain and the longest he waited to see a specialist was 2 weeks. From initial appointment to stent insertion was about a month. The stent was done the same day as the catheterization. my valve took months of waiting for the cardiologist, months more for the cath and months more for the surgery. It's always the wait, not whomever you want to treat you.
If I had the money I could have gone to the US or elsewhere and not waited at all. I could have had my most recent surgery at the Cleveland Clinic within a week for $30,000 but I'm not about to mortgage the farm But that's life--you make the best of what you have and wait.
Most of what you posted I agree with--not all. We don't live in a perfect world but we do see the specialists we want to see.
Cheers