Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with healthcare

Need minor surgery but I'm just about to change jobs (and health plans). Disaster?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:16:38 -0800

I have a small health issue which will probably require minor surgery. Pretty routine and low-risk kind of thing. I'm employed and have a good health plan through my job. But here's the problem: I might be changing jobs (and therefore health plans) very soon. Will this create problems getting the procedure paid for? I won't find out for sure if I need the surgery for a couple of weeks. And I'm sure that if I do, it will be even longer before I'm able to get the surgery. I might be in a new job much sooner than all that gets resolved. Questions:

1) Will I be able to sign up for my new employer's plan quickly enough to help with this?
2) Will that insurer decline to pay for my surgery because "it was a preexisting condition?"

Nothing's done yet. What should I be considering? Suggestions for a plan?

Which liberals might vote against healthcare?

col_pogo — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:53:23 -0800

Which liberal (or at least pro-healthcare-reform) Democratic senators are leaning towards opposing the current bill? I've been convinced that, as Patrick Nielsen Hayden put it, we should pass the bill anyway. I'd like to know who to write/call in the Senate to make sure that happens. I know that Firedoglake, Kos and some other "netroots" types are agin it, but are any senators actually following their advice? Roland Burris, maybe?

Google hasn't helped me much here: the keywords I choose send to a huge mess of articles.

Please don't pitch in with reasons why we need to oppose the bill. You may be right, but that's not what the question is about.

Soothing advice that I don't need to make any calls and that the bill is definitely going to pass now are, however, quite welcome.

Is passing out yesterday still an emergency today?

DB Cooper — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:01:21 -0800

Where to get 2nd medical opinion as soon as reasonably possible about the medications one is prescribed by county hospital in Dallas? An acquaintance here in Dallas told me just now that his pharmacist said he was being overmedicated. My acquaintance mentioned that he passed out and fell twice yesterday and has mental confusion at times. He says his blood pressure fluctuates between very high and extremely low.

He is uninsured and the Dr(s) at Parkland Hospital have him on the following: losartan, plavix, potassium chloride, amlodipime, isordile, lasix, carvedilol, and aspirin. He called Parkland to tell them he thinks he may be overmedicated and they responded that the first time they could schedule an appointment is in early February.

I told him he should go to the ER because IANAD and I would rather err on the side of caution.

My question: Where in or near Dallas could he get a free/low-cost 2nd opinion before February about his med dosages besides the emergency department of a local hospital?

Nasal polyps removal: Boston or Bergen?

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:53:41 -0800

I'm thinking of getting surgery to remove nasal polyps. Should I get it done in the Boston area, where I have no insurance, or in Bergen, Norway, where I'll be returning for work in January (with a worker's visa)? Or should I have it done at all?

Look into my...ear

bilabial — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:51:38 -0800

YANMD filter. I have had an earache for...a long time. I need a super low cost ENT type visit in the miami/fort lauderdale area. I've been taking ibuprofen and benadryl to faciltate sleeping at night. This was fine with me until it stopped working.

I'm under employed and uninsured (working 11-15 hours/week, had a hopeful job interview today). Minute Clinic at cvs (a drugstore chain here in Florida) is the cheapest option I can find, but at $62 for the visit, that's just not affordable. I do not have a credit card. I'm not in need of emergency room care, so please don't suggest I go there. I'm not currently enrolled in college classes, so utilizing campus health is not possible.

My google fu is failing me and at the moment my ear hurts so badly that chewing is uncomfortable. I can't put this off until I get health insurance or find a winning lotto ticket in the gutter.

I have a broward county bus pass and a bike. I could use the Miami buses. I might be able to get a ride someplace from a friend. So, transportation is a challenge, but less of a barrier than money.

Is there a clinic with a sliding scale? Does anyone have a doctor friend in Miami who could look into my ear and say, 'yup that's infected.' (I've had a lifetime of ear infections. I'm 70% certain that's what it is. Of course, I'm not a doc, and even if I were, I'm not physically able to look into my ear. So my guess at what the problem is doesn't amount to much. What I know is, it hurts and before I consider drinking myself to sleep, I need to see a doctor.)

Where are the absolute cheapest places to get prescription drugs?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:20:05 -0800

I'm thinking about switching my health insurance to a high-deductible health plan, but I need to get a handle on what all my allergy prescriptions will cost me. I think that I will be able to build up some stockpiles during this year, but I want to know how much I will actually be out of pocket when it comes time to pay for them. What is the absolute cheapest way to get the following prescriptions?

(I'm in Chicago, but assume that I am fine with mail order, will jump through a lot of hoops, and am interested in both US-based and possibly Canadian-based pharmacies, but I want them to be legal, legitimate pharmacies if they are abroad, and I want to understand how much of a risk I am taking with customs.)

Advair diskus 100/50
Singulair 10MG
Astelin 137 MCG
Veramyst 27.5 MCG
Ventolin HFA

(Anonymous just because I don't like the idea of the details of my health care being out in the wild.)

More about doctors and privacy

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:57:02 -0800

What exactly can a doctor's office tell anyone who happens to pick up your phone? I've recently come across couple of issues with doctor's offices and privacy. The first one was my mental health clinic, who dialed my home phone number. My boyfriend picked up and told them I wasn't home (I wasn't), and my mental health clinic said "well X therapist would like to make an appointment to see her." My bf doesn't live with me and they didn't even ask who he was when they left that message. I called them and said WTF, but they said that by providing them my home number, I authorized them to leave non-specific (i.e. no details about my care) messages there. I had no idea they were allowed to speak to anyone who answered the phone! Are they? (Note, I've since told them they are only allowed to call my cell phone number and they agreed.)

The other issue: My mom went to a specialist and specifically gave them only her cell phone number because she did not want them to give her test results to my dad. Specialist's office requested my mom to get her records from the general practitioner, which she provided. They pulled her home number off the GP's records and called the house. She went in to Specialist's office and explained that she was preparing to separate from my father and she did NOT want them calling him, they said, "well that will be a problem." Two days later they called when she wasn't home and told my dad the test results, when she explicitly told them not to. To me this is even worse than the first case because they did not leave a general message - they gave him test results! After she did not give them permission to and even specifically told them not to! Isn't that illegal?

When you go to a doctor's office, you usually have to fill out a form with the names of the people they may release information to. Why are the doctors' offices, then, not checking these forms and asking who they are speaking to when calling a phone number?

How much would it cost the average person to get a health care policy that's as good as Medicaid?

aquafortis — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:48:21 -0800

How much would it cost the average person to get a health care policy that's as good as Medicaid? I'm curious if anyone out there has any information on how much it would cost the average person to get a health care policy that's as good as Medicaid.

I know this is a complex question with lots of variables-- including how you define "good"-- so for the sake of the example, let's say we're talking about a self-employed single female in her thirties in excellent health with no kids who lives in New York looking to buy the same kind of coverage her low-income counterpart could expect from federal and state programs. Or maybe you know more about what it would cost a married couple with one income, insurance through work, and two kids living somewhere in the heartland. However you want to figure it, I think it's fascinating public policy issue worth talking about. All comments welcome!

Why Should You Use Social Networking at Work?

Jaybo — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:06:47 -0800

Many workplaces ban social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and so on. What are some of the reasons workplaces should allow (and even encourage) staff to use social networking sites? I'm particularly interested in the case you would make to someone in the healthcare field but examples that are applicable to other areas, especially those that may ban social networking site for privacy or productivity reasons, are welcome as well.

Psychotherapy? Psicoterapia? Psychothérapie? психотерапия?

Keter — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:50:35 -0800

With regards to psychotherapy, a common opinion I've noticed on MetaFilter is that Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is perceived as being the most efficient way to go, in addition to being one of the very few therapies likely to be reimbursed by health insurance. However, this may be coming from a largely American perspective. As such, I'm curious: What are some major features of psychotherapy in countries other than the United States? What are modes of therapy with which Americans might be familiar that are more popular elsewhere than they are in the US, and why are they more common in other places? Are there any psychotherapeutic traditions I as an American would be unlikely to have heard of or considered? Similarly, are there any therapeutic modalities that are distinctly American (or, in a less absolute sense, are more commonly found in the US or in Anglophone countries)? Within therapeutic modalities that might be familiar to us (CBT, psychodynamic, psychoanalytic), are there any schools or features of those modalities in other countries that may not be common in the United States? (For the last question, I have the general impression that French psychoanalysis is hella Lacanian, but have absolutely nothing of substance to back that up.)

On another train of thought: Who goes to get therapy—and who pays for it when they do? Are there places where psychotherapy is viewed with more or less stigma than it is in the United States?

I realize these are many, many questions, and I certainly don't expect to have all—or even most—of them answered. All-in-all, I'm just interested in learning more about how psychotherapy is perceived, researched, and practiced in places other than my home country... and why these psychotherapeutic landscapes may differ.

(For what it's worth, my own attempts to answer these questions have been rather fruitless, though I haven't the faintest of where to look. Some random searching on MeFi found me an interesting thread suggesting that psychoanalysis is really huge in Argentina. I also seem to recall an assertion I'll paraphrase as something like: "In France, psychoanalysis is therapy.")

You pay for our safety, so we don't have to.

nax — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:19:43 -0800

Do the U.S. military bases in foreign countries, esp. Western Europe and Japan, help those countries keep their military budgets low so that they can afford things like, I dunno, universal health care? I found this discussion among others regarding the general reasons why we have foreign bases, but nothing seems to address the financial benefits to foreign nations having us provide some of their security.

Is health care a Ponzi scheme?

Area Control — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:43:35 -0800

Is health care a Ponzi scheme? I'm trying to work out my feelings about the health care debate, and our moral obligations to take care of each other. Will improved health care just lead to larger populations and longer life spans, and more and more expenses to take care of them all? Am I a bad person for thinking this? I smoke, so I'll probably check out early without consuming all your future resources on my elder care. Does this mitigate my xenocidal tendencies or make them worse?

If it was COBRA...it would've bitten me AND my family!

littleredwagon — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:59:49 -0800

Since being fired last month, I'm in the process of getting health insurance for my family. But, I'm kind of confused with this COBRA '65/35 for nine months' deal with the government. I'm awaiting to hear from our local Blue Cross provider for a 9/15 effective date, but, our calculations show that the COBRA discounted price for nine months would be roughly $150 less than the Blue Cross premium. Now, it is my understanding that you have to elect COBRA AND send in your request for the 65/35 subsidy at the same time. If I don't get the subsidy, I want to go with Blue Cross. How do I do this properly? Is there any way I can apply for the subsidy without requesting COBRA at the same time?

What do I do about healthcare while abroad?

minicloud — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:03:07 -0800

I'm going to be living in France and then Germany for two months (or maybe longer) and I'm not sure what to do about my health insurance. I am currently on my old workplace's plan, paying almost $400 a month for pretty good health insurance and I don't want to lose it, but do I need american health insurance while I'm gone? It seems like it would be a waste of money to spend that if it's useless to me for that time period. Can one suspend their insurance while traveling? And is this even a good idea?

Also, how does it work to be a on a tourist visa if you get sick or get in an accident in France or Germany?

What do I Need to Know About Healthcare Reform?

nostrich — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:26:46 -0800

I want to learn about American healthcare, where do I start? My SO is very invested in the healthcare reform stuff that's being talked about at the moment, but I find it rather difficult to engage in any kind of conversation on the topic, since my knowledge of American healthcare is almost nonexistent. I'm a Brit, so all I know is the NHS -- and I can already tell it's a totally different game for healthcare, but that's about all I know. I'd like to learn more about it, but I don't know where to start.

There have been past questions similar to this, but they seem to focus solely on the healthcare reform bill, and I'd like to get a little foreknowledge first.

So where do I start?

I want to be informed before I engage in healthcare debate

Foam Pants — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:41:54 -0800

I would like to find a copy of the proposed healthcare reform bill with some non-partisan translation of some of the legal-ese. Does this exist? I am looking for the whole bill, if possible.

Forbidden fruit of the HIPAA tree

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:01:21 -0800

[HIPAA filter]: When dropping off our child at daycare (a small, home daycare), my spouse - a pediatrician - ran into a patient who is not vaccinated. I know you're not a lawyer; I know you're not our lawyer - what are our options? The daycare is full of our friends, and their children. Our child is vaccinated (according to the recommended schedule), and not truly our primary concern in this - it's the children of our friends who are too young to have received their vaccinations yet. Additionally, we plan to have another child soon and wouldn't want someone else's unvaccinated kid putting ours at risk.

The best course of action I can conceive is to (A) review our contract and see if it says anything about required vaccinations, and (B) talk to our daycare provider about what her requirements are for new kids (can they be admitted without a vaccination record? what are the requirements that go along with her license, etc).

But the problem remains - if this child is admitted regardless of their lack of vaccinations, what course of action can we take? Obviously, we can remove our child (assuming we could even find another provider), but what do we do with the forbidden knowledge? How do we warn/protect our friends' children from this possible risk if we're not allowed to share this information?

Extended details: we are in Colorado.

Book recommendation: Healthcare & Native Americans?

justkevin — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:21:31 -0800

Asking on behalf of G.F.: Is there a good book about Healthcare & Native Americans in the United States? My girlfriend is looking for a book as a gift to a co-worker on the topic of health care and Native Americans. Have you read one that you would recommend?

How many health care facilities with imaging equipment?

blueplasticfish — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:10:55 -0800

How many health care facilities, excluding hospitals, are there in the U.S. that use at least one medical imaging modality (Xray, Ultrasound, etc.)? Where can I find this information aggregated? Also, a bonus if you can tell me how many world wide or break this information down by state!

Thanks in advance everyone!

Where can I get more information about the U.S. health care reform bill?

zembla3 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:38:22 -0800

I've been reading a lot of conflicting information about the U.S. health care reform bill (HR 3200) and its potential impact on different groups of Americans. I tried to read the bill, but it's over a thousand pages and is written in mind-numbing legalese. Is there a place online where I can find comprehensive, non-partisan, easily understandable information about the bill?

don't mourn, organize!

kalimac — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:24:55 -0800

What can I do, while overseas, to help educate about/support/do something about the healthcare debate happening in the US? The situation: I'm a US citizen currently living in Wales, with virtually nothing to fill my time until, say, mid-September when school starts up again. Before going back to school, I worked for a company dedicated to anti-poverty work, with an emphasis on healthcare accessibility, so the current 'debate' (can you call it a debate when there isn't even a sensible counter-argument happening publically?) is somewhat near and dear to my heart.

I'd like to be able to do something, to educate, to support just...do something to channel the rage and the frustration and the wanting to do something to support the idea that health care is a basic human right. Except, not living in the US, I can't do calls, or go to town meetings, or do on-the-ground stuff.

So my question to hive mind -- is there anything I can do, essentially only via the internet? Something proactive, something that isn't just sitting around and bitching. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks much!

Advice for Town Hall Meetings?

every_one_needs_a_hug_sometimes — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:43:54 -0800

What should someone know before going to a town hall meeting on health care reform? Today I went to a town hall meeting on health care reform in Alhambra, California. I went to listen to Congressman Adam Schiff (D) and the many panelists present, but unfortunately I couldn't hear that well because people were shouting and booing.

Anyway, long story short, many people kept telling me to read the bill, because they actually have read the bill. Of course, I have not, and so I didn't argue with them. One woman said that she had read the bill in its entirety, and mentioned that on page 16, the bill declares that insurance companies can no longer enroll new people once the bill is passed. Now that I'm home, I looked it up, and what the bill actually says (I think) is that insurance companies can no longer enroll people in old policies that are grandfathered in from before the reform.

Here is the section that she was referring to:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3200/text?version=ih&nid=t0:ih:255
(Even the people commenting on that section are confused.)

So, basically... It seems to me that she read it, but misunderstood it. (It is entirely possible too, that I'm the one misreading it.) However, I can understand how she got the interpretation that she did. I wish I had had this information in front of me when I was talking to her. Or better yet, I wish I had had the bill and the internet with me, so that we could look it up and actually talk about it.

I guess if someone were to ask me what to expect when going to one of these town hall meetings, I would tell them about page 16 and the (honest) misreading of it, since more than one person brought it up at the town hall. I'd like to be more prepared in the future, but unfortunately the whole issue is really confusing... I'm sure that if I read the entire 1018 page bill, I wouldn't understand most of it either...

So I was wondering...

Dear metafilter, what should someone know before going to a town hall meeting on health care reform?

Health care rationing in the US?

Wood — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:09:30 -0800

There is much talk about health care rationing in Britain, for example. How do I find out more about the status of rationing in the United States, my health care (nice employer based) and Medicare in particular. Is it the case that with health care in the US, private or Medicare, cost is never a reason to deny a procedure? That people under Medicare, for example, get all of those 50,000$ drugs that give you 6 months of life? How can I find out if my plan covers every possible procedure or not? I'm less concerned with the issue of rescision as a roundabout way of denying care versus explicit denial of care based on cost.

Bo Knows . . .

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:22:19 -0800

Health Mystery Solved. I have been given a diagnosis of avascular necrosis. My general practitioner relayed these results to me after she saw my MRI results. On Friday I meet with an orthopedic surgeon. Please help me prepare. What questions should I be sure to ask? My gp described the damage as 'fairly advanced' or something.
In addition to questions to ask, I would love to hear anecdotal experiences from mefis directly affected by this.

Short of total hip replacement, (THR), what are the cutting edge effective treatments? If THR plays out as the only/necessary option how was your experience?

Since first being told that my pain was unrelated to a muscle strain/tear I feel as good as I have in 18 months. I can't really explain it but, even without the pain management meds I was prescribed, I know walk with a nearly indiscernible limp and actually feel pretty good. I am otherwise healthy and, according to the chart on the wall, I am within 4lbs of my ideal weight.

I am now a 40yo single, straight male with no kids. I have no family in California where I have called home for 22 years. I was medically discharged in 1990 and have been granted coverage at the Veteran's Administration hospital in my community. Without exception, the care I have received there has been kind, thoughtful and genuine.

Help me prepare for my meeting on Friday and for possible outcomes in the near(?) future.

I'll dust off hiplegpain@gmail.com if anyone would like to contact me directly. Thank you.

How can I prevent a future health insurance co from discovering a previous dematology treatment and use it for denial of insurance?

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:45:05 -0800

I'm an American without health insurance, who needs (minor) dermatological care... how worried should I be that this will prevent me from getting private health care insurance in a year or so (denial due to prior condition)? And what can I do to prevent this from happening? After waiting for a year, I really need to have a few warts and dermatofibroma taken care of, maybe get a prescription or two. Nothing serious or particularly costly. I'm going to pay cash out of pocket, to a dermatologist or general practitioner whom I haven't seen before. I'm worried that this could be used against me in the next year or two when I will purchase private health insurance ... what should I do to prevent this? Is there a way the insurance company will discover this, etc... ?

Is this something I should worry about?