The horror of socialised medicine..

tony7914 wrote:

ejward wrote: tony7914 wrote: @ej Quote: Why would i pay for private insurance too? If the universal health plan is done right, there would be no need for supplemental insurance. People are just assuming that it will be done wrong. Medicare has covered everything my Mother has ever needed. She's never been rejected for anything. They even pay for brand name drugs when the doctor says it's needed. I'm forced to use generics no matter what my doctor says. Most insurance will pay for name brands if the doctor can show they are needed. If there is a generic available for the same drug your better off getting it as it will be cheaper and is the same thing. Most? This is based on what? In the past 3 years there have been 4 different plans with my employer. None of them will pay for a brand name when there is a generic available regardless of what the doctor says. None of them will pay for a prescription drug when there is a completely different OTC drug. Example: they won't cover ANY medication for acid reflux because Prilosec is available over the counter. They will no longer cover Lipitor for cholesterol because there is some other generic available ..... even though it's the generic of another drug and not Lipitor. Not sure how things work in your state but most insurance we have here will pay for a brand name drug if it's the only one available such as welbutrin if there is a generic available they will only pay for that which isn't a big deal because it's the same thing and usually cheaper. Most insurances will also cover a brand name if your doctor can show them that only the brand name will work, you still have to pay the co-pay though but then you have a co-pay with any drug. Most insurance companies won't pay for OTC medications, this is nothing new. If your doctor wants you to take that and you have to have something prescribed then you should ask him to choose a different drug as many are available for GERD that are not OTC.

That's essentially the same as my plan. If there is a brand name drug with no generic available then, I can get it and pay a higher cost. Last year, I was able to get Lipitor (There was no generic available). Starting this year, my insurance company says I have to get symbastatin which is the generic for Zocor. My other choice is to pay full price for Lipitor. Zocor works however, it can cause liver damage. Now, i've got to get my liver checked every six months so, I question how much they're really saving.

As far as GERD goes ..... yes, there are plenty of other prescription GERD treatments. Both brand name and generic. My plan has said it's not going to cover ANY of them.

I wouldn't expect any pan to cover OTC's

Ok, I'm back from Buffalo. I asked everyone I could. It mostly comes down to friends of relatives or relatives themselves. It was 12 people that I spoke to and they spoke for all our relatives and their friends in Canada. The one relative from Canada that I had hoped would show up for Thanksgiving was a no-show.

I couldn't find anyone with supplemental insurance. Some didn't know if their friends had it and others didn't have it.

I did hear a story about someone that lived in the middle of nowhere having to wait 30 days for an appointment for a checkup. Other than that, I heard no complaints about having to wait a long time for anything. Tests, sugeries, emergencies, etc. To put things into prespective, I had to schedule my recent physical about 60 days in advance. It was the only appointment they had open.

I did hear one story of a friend who's son was sick. They urged the doctor to perform a CT scan but it was shot down. After begging, they peformed the CT scan and found a brain tumor. It saved his life. Now, I KNOW that my current plan would not pay for a CAT scan just because I asked. A doctor would have to reccomend it. I think if I begged my current doctor, she'd sign off on it. I'm not sure about others.

On an unrelated note ..... Another thing I discovered was that there were a LOT more Obama supporters at dinner than I had ever imagined. Except for one who voted for McCain and a couple that wouldn't say, they all voted for Obama. I was shocked. That was my biggest fear for dinner ..... don't bring up politics, don't bring up politics, don't bring up politics. I knew they were all extreme Republicans. I knew they all supported Bush in 2004. I didn't bring it up. Someone else did. It was all very strange.