Medical expenses vs savings

[annibe11e]

- Limit medical malpractice lawsuits. If you sue a doctor and lose, well, you must be made to pay for the defense costs of the doctor as well. This will take care of frivolous lawsuits. Now, for docs that keep repeatedly getting sued, have a 3 (or n) strike rule or similar and get rid of their licenses. If you are too incompetent to treat patients without getting sued (successfully that is) frequently, then perhaps he should quit medicine.

Although I agree that lawsuits are out of control, I think this is dangerously in favor of the doctor. Not only are they likely to be able to afford better lawyers than most of us, the fear of losing on a technicality could prevent people from pursuing legitimate lawsuits. That loss could put someone in debt for life to the doctor.

[Gailete]

This will take care of frivolous lawsuits. Now, for docs that keep repeatedly getting sued, have a 3 (or n) strike rule or similar and get rid of their licenses. If you are too incompetent to treat patients without getting sued (successfully that is) frequently, then perhaps he should quit medicine.

With a rule like that, you might find that some of the most needed doctors will no longer be available, in particular OB/GYNs. A mother can treat herself and unborn baby like crap, but when it is born with problems, they go after the doctor. Delivering a baby is not an exact science where every delivery is identical and can be made to have identical outcomes. They are always somewhat different and those difference can mean vital seconds when the baby isn't getting oxygen which can cause brain damage. It is no ones fault, but parents seem to think some one has to pay.

I remember the feeling of relief I had when I realized that I had been out of nursing long enough that I was past the point that anyone could sue me, not that I had done anything wrong, I was actually an excellent nurse, but there are always people that will complain about anything and everything and increasingly our country has become more and more willing to sue. Most of us would have thought, and probably still do, that suing McDonalds because a woman was stupid where she put her cup of hot coffee would have been a frivolous lawsuit, but somehow she won. Frivolous lawsuits are being won constantly, so there is no doubt with your solution, that doctors could be put out of medicine simply because of idiots.

[snafu]

http://sffed-education.org/chairman/

This is a challenge...if You Were in Charge...what would you do

[Jennsnoopy]

I don't know what the answer is. Having 2 medically fragile kids I can say every doctor and nurse that has helped us in the last 7 years works their rears off.

I have an issue with big pharmaceuticals however. When my daughter was on treatment for leukemia there were many shortages of drugs. We luckily got what she needed but other kids in different parts of the country did not. We even had some unopened medicine left over and there was no way to send it to those kids who needed it. It was deemed medical waste and had to be tossed. A lot of cancer drugs are not profitable for companies to make due to a small population needing them thus shortages and price gouging, If you factor in the cost of some of these medicines, even with insurance and there is no room for putting things toward savings.

I don't know what the answer is. For us, medical expenses are our #2 highest monthly expense and it has nothing to do with our lifestyle. It has to do with 2 little beans we love very much and would do anything we can for them.

[Gailete]

I realize that this is an old thread, but someone resurrected it again and it reminded me of something I observed a month ago. I was at the Goodwill and this boy ~10-12 was crying and holding his hand and in particular a finger. His mom couldn't get him to stop crying and talk to her about what he had done so she said, "okay we are going to the ER"!! Another customer (an older woman) and I looked at each and thought, ‘you've got to be kidding’. There was no blood and no visible sign of an injury so we suggested getting some ice from the store next door. So then mom says she will take him to urgent care!!! I finally opened my mouth and asked to look at it identifying myself as a nurse (although retired). I checked out his finger and it had been pinched, but wasn’t broken, had good blood flow, etc. Maybe needed an ice pack for a few minutes to ease the pain, but otherwise was okay.

No wonder costs sky rocket medically. The other customer and I were basically rolling out eyes as who would even think to take a kid to the ER for a minor pinched finger? I assumed (possibly wrongly) that the mom had Medicaid for the boy since most people's first thought for care for something like this isn't going and making a very expensive ER trip, even if they needed to go. Who has the money for a several hundred visit only to be told that a kid got a boo-boo but will be fine? This was a week day so supposedly if she had a PCP for him she never seemed to consider calling them. Perhaps just a mom who felt helpless with medical emergencies. I don't know. I saw the kid two days later at another thrift store running around causing havoc like he had been doing at the other store and not even a bandage, so I guess his finger didn't fall off.

When my kids were small we had excellent insurance for them, but didn’t take them off to the ER every chance I got, even before I became a nurse. Yet I would see other mothers haul their children off to the ER for minor complaints and they never seemed to even consider the cost. It is those kinds of things that drive up medical costs and eat up the money allocated to Medicaid. I’m on Medicare at this point in my life, I adjudicate each procedure recommended for me as to whether it will be a good use of taxpayer funding, and for those that aren’t and won’t end up causing me more problems, I cancel.

[msomnipotent]

When my kids were small we had excellent insurance for them, but didn’t take them off to the ER every chance I got, even before I became a nurse. Yet I would see other mothers haul their children off to the ER for minor complaints and they never seemed to even consider the cost. It is those kinds of things that drive up medical costs and eat up the money allocated to Medicaid. I’m on Medicare at this point in my life, I adjudicate each procedure recommended for me as to whether it will be a good use of taxpayer funding, and for those that aren’t and won’t end up causing me more problems, I cancel.

Going to the ER didn't even cross our minds unless we were in an ambulance. I fell hard and split my chin open when I was about seven years old. There was blood from one end of the kitchen to the other, up the walls and on the ceiling. It was pumping out of my chin so fast that I thought I was dying. My mother looks at me and says, "Now I have to try and get an appointment for today. And I just cleaned this kitchen!!!!"


As someone that has expensive medical issues, I feel that it is my responsibility to shop around, especially for my medications. I was just price checking Humira last week, and the cheapest I could find was $3,800. Even Costco was $4,200! Even though I have great insurance and I only have to pay a $20 copay for it, this all counts towards my lifetime max. I know that even one expensive person in the group forces everyone to pay more, so I try to balance it out like you.

[Gailete]

I remeber cutting a toe with the old glass milk bottles. My day picked me up and set me on the counter with my foot in the sink to control where all the blood was going. It still wasn't an ER or Doctor worthy event! LOL.

I was scheduled for a sleep study and when I called to find out about, they were going to connect 90+ leads to my skin, mostly on my face and head, send me to bed three hours SOONER than I normally went and then they woke people up at 5:30 AM! Which at that point was aobut 3-4 hours than my normal time. They said most people had no trouble falling asleep, but I know me. I have trouble sleeping in hotels, and bed but mine and I even have trouble sleeping in my own bed. I figured that assuming I did go to sleep, I might get 2-3 hours worth. and at that point it cost $6K for the test. I said no thank you and canceled it. I knew they wouldn't get enough data to diagnose anything. I'm had trouble falling asleep all my life so knew I wouldn't magically not if I had that many wires connected to me. I know I could have tried but all I could see was wasted MC tax dollars.

If I had tried Humira, my co-pay then would have been $1600/month. Well if I took all my SS check, my share of my ex's small pension, and robbed a bank every month I could have maybe swung the cost. Thankfully my doctor tried something else that is covered in full currently.

Whether on government costs or regular insurance, it is good for all of us to watch where the money goes and if things are actually needed. Like when your doctor hands you a prescription AND a coupon, you know you are about to have to buy a very expensive new drug. It would be better to check is there an older med that you could try first that would hopefully be cheaper. I got one once and my pharmacist, that is also a friend, said that the med was really one I was already taking with the equivilant of 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda added and it cost ~$150 for a bottle. Much better to stick to my other med and buy a 50 cent box of baking soda!