Comments on: If You Have to Ask the Price … (part 1) http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2009/12/if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-part-1/ The 9 to 5 Life of an International Playboy Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:05:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: [anonymous] http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2009/12/if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-21617 [anonymous] Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:13:05 +0000 http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2009/12/if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-part-1/#comment-21617 I really like this argument - a lot more than some of the yelling matches I keep hearing from people who are uninformed. I listened to a really interesting report about healthcare on NPR a few months ago, and there are some real issues with it. However, I know that I go to the doctor from time to time just to make sure that something isn't a big deal, and I probably don't need to make the trip. I might think about this differently if I didn't have insurance, but when your heart is racing you kind of want to know why, even if it isn't anything. I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think we're there yet, which is why it's frustrating that it's going to cost so much not to fix it. [<i>Ed. note:</i> I have edited the name and URL of the poster, since it was pushing the edge of spam. I appreciate the poster's apparent thoughtfulness, though, so I'm not deleting it outright.] I really like this argument – a lot more than some of the yelling matches I keep hearing from people who are uninformed. I listened to a really interesting report about healthcare on NPR a few months ago, and there are some real issues with it. However, I know that I go to the doctor from time to time just to make sure that something isn’t a big deal, and I probably don’t need to make the trip. I might think about this differently if I didn’t have insurance, but when your heart is racing you kind of want to know why, even if it isn’t anything.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I don’t think we’re there yet, which is why it’s frustrating that it’s going to cost so much not to fix it.

[Ed. note: I have edited the name and URL of the poster, since it was pushing the edge of spam. I appreciate the poster's apparent thoughtfulness, though, so I'm not deleting it outright.]

]]> By: Leslie M-B http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2009/12/if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-21079 Leslie M-B Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:40:43 +0000 http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2009/12/if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-part-1/#comment-21079 That's one disturbing footnote and just more evidence of how out-of-touch our wealthy senators are. Had I paid for Lucas's birth out of pocket, it would have run me something like $32,000--and that's the rate negotiated with the insurance company, and I never saw a doctor, only midwives and nurses. (Lucas saw a pediatrician for about 5 minutes.) As it was, with my grad student health insurance, I was responsible for 20 or 25% of that amount--and that $8000 or so was well over half my take-home income for the year. Mind you, I was already taking the "cheap" route by going with midwife care instead of ob/gyn. Ditto with Pete's shoulder surgery earlier this year. It was about $28,000 for three hours total of pre-op, surgery, and post-op; we paid $545. $545 seems completely reasonable to me for that kind of surgery, even though it's a burden on our budget; $28,000 out of pocket, waiting for reimbursement, does not seem quite so reasonable. BTW, the diabetes test strip prices are listed on a panel next to the pharmacy counter where I pick up my meds. It has always shocked me how expensive those things are. That’s one disturbing footnote and just more evidence of how out-of-touch our wealthy senators are. Had I paid for Lucas’s birth out of pocket, it would have run me something like $32,000–and that’s the rate negotiated with the insurance company, and I never saw a doctor, only midwives and nurses. (Lucas saw a pediatrician for about 5 minutes.)

As it was, with my grad student health insurance, I was responsible for 20 or 25% of that amount–and that $8000 or so was well over half my take-home income for the year. Mind you, I was already taking the “cheap” route by going with midwife care instead of ob/gyn.

Ditto with Pete’s shoulder surgery earlier this year. It was about $28,000 for three hours total of pre-op, surgery, and post-op; we paid $545. $545 seems completely reasonable to me for that kind of surgery, even though it’s a burden on our budget; $28,000 out of pocket, waiting for reimbursement, does not seem quite so reasonable.

BTW, the diabetes test strip prices are listed on a panel next to the pharmacy counter where I pick up my meds. It has always shocked me how expensive those things are.

]]> By: mary http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2009/12/if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-part-1/comment-page-1/#comment-20939 mary Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:44:02 +0000 http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/2009/12/if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-part-1/#comment-20939 i use a mail-order pharmacy for two prescriptions that i use every day, and it saves me a decent amount of money. i get a three month suppy for the cost of two months, which saves me $128 total each year (which isn't much compared to how much you spend on prescriptions, but it's still 1/3 of what i would be paying if i went the CVS or walmart route). it can be kind of annoying to remember to call in the refills every three months, but the company leaves me friendly reminder voice mails if i forget. and, for prescriptions that must be refrigerated (one of mine does, one doesn't) the regular, kind of slow free shipping is upgraded to two-day shipping for free (and they pack the box full of coldpacks). i use a mail-order pharmacy for two prescriptions that i use every day, and it saves me a decent amount of money. i get a three month suppy for the cost of two months, which saves me $128 total each year (which isn’t much compared to how much you spend on prescriptions, but it’s still 1/3 of what i would be paying if i went the CVS or walmart route). it can be kind of annoying to remember to call in the refills every three months, but the company leaves me friendly reminder voice mails if i forget. and, for prescriptions that must be refrigerated (one of mine does, one doesn’t) the regular, kind of slow free shipping is upgraded to two-day shipping for free (and they pack the box full of coldpacks).

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