What is happening to the healthcare industry?

Remy said:
My exact thought @officerripley Rich or poor. We can't take anything with us. I guess except what we did in this life.
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My mother, bless her generous soul, had a saying, "There are no pockets in shrouds".

She died with little left of material possessions or money but she was far richer than that. She was loved abundantly, and her memory still is alive today. We have a saying, that I self-refer to often. It is, "What would Nellie do?"

I hope to die as rich in love, and as poor in material wealth, as she did.
 

OneEyedDiva said:
Wow Doug! You wrote: "My insurance company is basically discouraging me from visiting my doctor in person." Mine, Aetna Medicare PPO, is doing just the opposite. I just got an email encouraging me to visit my doctor then login to my account and evaluate the visit for them. Then I got another one which was worded slightly different after they realized I had already seen him recently. I wonder if they get to pay doctors less when there's a tele-visit rather than office visit. I notice from my benefits statements that doctors get paid significantly less through Medicare than what their OV charges actually cost.

I think insurance companies are influencing medical care or responsible for the lack thereof in some cases. New mothers used to stay in the hospital 5 days after giving birth. Now they are "kicked out" the next day. If they had C sections it may be a couple of days longer, I'm not sure.
I've read that they pay for 15 minutes of care when visiting a doctor's office so that's all doctors are obligated to give Medicare patients. My doctor spends between 45 minutes and an hour with me each time I go and that's usually every three months.

Years ago when I needed PT, the insurance only paid for 11 visits. So for those who cannot afford to pay out of pocket, their PT time is limited and maybe they need more. Then there are drugs that insurances won't cover. For example, I used to take Aciphex, which managed my GERD excellently. My RX plan stopped paying for it, so did Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the plan a co-worker friend had. Between my gastroenterologist and PCP, they gave me enough samples to last me for a few months.

I found out after my sister had knee replacement surgery that United Health Care is problematic when it comes to admitting someone to a rehab facility. I was in my sister's room when the nurse or social worker came and told her that. As a member of the Patient Advisory Council that met at my doctor's office, I mentioned it. The nurse and secretary both said they also experienced that problem with UHC
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My mother's GERD was so bad that she developed scar tissue in her esophagus and could no longer swallow. I first learned of this after my father passed away and we were having dinner at her house. She went to the bathroom and was acting as if she was throwing up. I asked her if I could help her and she asked me to do the Heimlich Maneuver on her! I took her to the doctor and she ended up having her esophagus stretched. She was also prescribed Aciphex.

Mine isn't as bad, but when eat certain foods like salmon or rice too quickly they become lodged in my esophagus and will neither go up nor down. It is extremely painful. The occasional Pepcid has helped tremendously.

Thank you for sharing your sister's experience with UHC. They do seem to be quite restrictive.
 

seadoug said:
My mother's GERD was so bad that she developed scar tissue in her esophagus and could no longer swallow. I first learned of this after my father passed away and we were having dinner at her house. She went to the bathroom and was acting as if she was throwing up. I asked her if I could help her and she asked me to do the Heimlich Maneuver on her! I took her to the doctor and she ended up having her esophagus stretched. She was also prescribed Aciphex.

Mine isn't as bad, but when eat certain foods like salmon or rice too quickly they become lodged in my esophagus and will neither go up nor down. It is extremely painful. The occasional Pepcid has helped tremendously.

Thank you for sharing your sister's experience with UHC. They do seem to be quite restrictive.
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My mother suffered from the same thing for most of her life. When we became adults we finally got her to do to a specialist. She was in her 60s by then. She suffered from esophageal stricture. The opening from her esophagus to her stomach was the size of a pencil eraser. The doctor explained this could be do to genetics in her family.

It would then explain why my nephew refused to eat solid foods after choking as a baby. They put him through all kinds of horrors, force feeding him, not allowing him to eat what he was not afraid off. They never actually looked to see if anything was wrong physically. He ate yogurt, pudding and spaghettios for years.

Many years later my son starting having swallowing issues that he did not have when he was a young child. In junior high he got a piece of steak caught, went to emergency room. They could not clear it out or through. He was taken in for a endoscopy, it revealed the same esophageal strictures. It was stretched. He has to have this procedure about every seven years.

Eventually my sister was able to get her son to consent to being tested. That poor boy had been suffering since he was a baby. He has it too!! He now has the procedure done just like my son. He now eats a regular healthy diet, his confidence has improved 100 percent. He was bullied when he was a kid because he ate funny, having to push food to the roof of his mouth so make sure it was safe for him to swallow.

Both boys take a prescription antacid daily to help prevent acid reflux which helps both of them. Have you ever been checked? It skipped me and my sister but showed with the kids. Mom also had psoriasis in her family, she did not have it. It got both me and my sister, my son also has it but nephew so far has not.
 
Blessed said:
My mother suffered from the same thing for most of her life. When we became adults we finally got her to do to a specialist. She was in her 60s by then. She suffered from esophageal stricture. The opening from her esophagus to her stomach was the size of a pencil eraser. The doctor explained this could be do to genetics in her family.

It would then explain why my nephew refused to eat solid foods after choking as a baby. They put him through all kinds of horrors, force feeding him, not allowing him to eat what he was not afraid off. They never actually looked to see if anything was wrong physically. He ate yogurt, pudding and spaghettios for years.

Many years later my son starting having swallowing issues that he did not have when he was a young child. In junior high he got a piece of steak caught, went to emergency room. They could not clear it out or through. He was taken in for a endoscopy, it revealed the same esophageal strictures. It was stretched. He has to have this procedure about every seven years.

Eventually my sister was able to get her son to consent to being tested. That poor boy had been suffering since he was a baby. He has it too!! He now has the procedure done just like my son. He now eats a regular healthy diet, his confidence has improved 100 percent. He was bullied when he was a kid because he ate funny, having to push food to the roof of his mouth so make sure it was safe for him to swallow.

Both boys take a prescription antacid daily to help prevent acid reflux which helps both of them. Have you ever been checked? It skipped me and my sister but showed with the kids. Mom also had psoriasis in her family, she did not have it. It got both me and my sister, my son also has it but nephew so far has not.
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I haven't been checked but I'm sure I have some version of it. I get occasional indigestion but swallowing food is rarely difficult.
Quick story... we took my mother out to dinner one night and she spent almost 30 minutes in the restroom. I kept asking women I saw going to the restroom if they could check on her. A registered RN came out of the restroom, told me what the issue was and basically berated me for not taking her to a doctor. :( We gathered up our food and the staff at the restaurant all stood by the door as we left. I'm sure they were afraid we were going to sue them for some reason. It was embarrassing.

I was wondering why my father had never taken her because he was very health-conscious. Anyway, I took her to a specialist and had her esophagus stretched. She had it done again about 10 years later. I've never experienced the issues she experienced.

I'm glad your son and your nephew have discovered the issue and have treated it!
 
Last night, our friends just told us of a scary experience involving several doctors. The husband has Parkinson's & cancer. A few weeks ago he couldn't walk after loosing control of his lower body & she took him to ER. They did all kinds of tests & said they found another tumor in his lower back that was causing nerve problems. After trying to get all the doctors together on the same page, they did surgery & fixed the problem in his back & found out that it wasn't a tumor at all. He was much better & came home.

A few days after being home, one doctor told her to bring him back in because he has a new cancer & wanted to change all of his medicines. She said did you read the report. This doctor said he had not read the report, but he needed to come back anyway. She contacted another of the other doctors & was told again bring him so medicines could be updated. After going to all doctors, she found out NO ONE READ THE REPORTS. After they finally read the reports, they came to the conclusion that he doesn't have a new cancer.

He is doing well & his medicines wasn't changed. If he didn't have his wife to stand up to be his advocate & fight with the doctors, I don't know what would have happened to him.
 


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