Don't do me any favors!

[AZKathy]

You know, I would not be surprised if Robin does not even come over and visit with us on the DIS any more!

Her point of her topic was hospitals not treating the sick just because they do not have insurance. It was not "Hey, I am a bad mom cuz I would rather go to WDW than pay for insurance", etc. Nikki's symptoms screamed mono...she should have gotten followed throught with that at the very least. What if they had not followed through and gone to another hospital. What if they went home and kept her home with just treating her with Tylenol for fevers and the Amoxicillin that would do nothing? Things could have gotten worse.

Sure this is not the patient who goes in for chest pain and since he does not have insurance is given some advice for indigestion and then goes home and dies of a heart attack. Yes, that happened in our city. Or what about the patient who is $10,000 higher bills than what Medicare will pay and he gets thrown out of the hospital the same day he is showing symptoms for another stroke, but the hospital staff does not do anything about that. That happened to my FIL. Get him out....he is costing us precious dollars!

I am an RN, so I do know the terrible costs of health care and such, but I do think that any patient should get the same quality of care when they need it. Even at my hospital, we take care of a lot of individuals from Mexico who wind out in our ED who need care now...we don't ship them back over the border. We give them the best stabilizing care and get them home afterwards. We eat the loss. Our hospital lost $7 million dollars in one year with situations like this.

I hope that you are not going to keep a sour taste in your mouth, Robin, from this thread. I read your feelings were hurt; mine would have been, also with what happened here on this thread. As I said before, I hope Nikki is on the mends and she is feeling better in no time!

 

[Jillpie]

bump

 

[Jillpie]

oops sorry, meant to do that on another post.
Gosh, I'm so sorry for everything you went through Robin. Sure hope Nikki feels better.

 

[Zurg]

Hey Robin:

There is a thing called the Hippocratic Oath see:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_modern.html

There also seems to be a Hypocritic Oath extolled at points in this thread.

I didn't hear Robin say she wouldn't pay for care, yet she gets bashed for getting piss poor care from some quack.

Blame the victim.

Good plan.

So how many of you count youself as part of Robin's 50,000 friends?

 

[Jeanny]

Originally posted by ennazus

An affordable price – monthly costs as low as $260 for a single adult and $780 for a family of four
Discounts up to 40% of monthly payments for those under 300% FPL - $28,000/single adult and $56,500/family of four
Discounts on deductibles and out of pocket maximums for those under 300% FPL.

If you qualify for a discount... it might be less than 600- / month

Those are AFFORDABLE?? By whose standards?? The rate for single is just about ONE WEEK'S pay for me.
The monthly rate is about 3 weeks pay for me. If I had to buy that insurance, then I wouldn't be able to eat, pay my mortgage or drive my car to work. Yep, that's affordable health care in the United States these days.

I'm one of the lucky ones, I may not get paid much, but I have good benefits at my College. So if everyone would just step off of Robin for a few minutes, I think the above post just put things into perspective. but that's just MY opinion.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

The rate for single is just about ONE WEEK'S pay for me.

Then I assume you are making less than $28,000 a year and would qualify for the 40% discount off of those rates.

 

[TNCarole]

Robin, I'm SO glad Nikki is on the road to recovery. Whew! I feel as though I know you and your family, thanks to your wonderful trip reports.

I KNOW you are a wonderful mom. Don't let anyone else tell you different! I don't know why some folks feel they have the right to be so judgmental. It's just not a nice thing to do.

Love ya, mean it!

 

[Jeanny]

Originally posted by Toby'sFriend
Then I assume you are making less than $28,000 a year and would qualify for the 40% discount off of those rates.

If you qualify for a discount... it might be less than 600- / month

Like I said, still about 3 weeks pay for me

 

[poohandwendy]

I know DW has lots of friends here who love her and would defend her to the death, which is awesome, but I REALLY hope DW uses this experience as an example of how important having health insurance is. I also think the intentions of most of the posters here was to plead with her to make sure she and her kids are insured in the futire ...for her and their sake. Taking the gamble that nothing will happen almost always guarantees problems.

Yes, IMO,the doctors should have referred her to a place where she would be treated without insurance, but the bigger picture is that health insurance is really, really a 'must-have'.

On a side note, I wonder how many people would have defended a parent who had no health insurance for their child had they been a new or unknown poster?

 

[minniepumpernickel]

The community board is full of fricken crazies today. However, I don't feel that people were necessarily trying to put down the OP. Health insurance is very important to have. If my parents hadn't had it I doubt that I would be alive today, or they would have been bankrupt. I had an illness that kept me out of school for all of fifth grade, (they passed me anyway), got hit by a drunk at eighteen spent a week in ICU. I magine what all that would have cost without insurance? You just never know!


good luck, I wish you all of the best!

 

[phorsenuf]

Originally posted by poohandwendy
On a side note, I wonder how many people would have defended a parent who had no health insurance for their child had they been a new or unknown poster?

New or not, nobody deserved to be treated the way Robin was.
Some things that were said were downright mean and appalling in my opinion!

 

[Disney01]

Having health insurance is very expensive for a family of 5-6 people. So is going to Walt Disney World. I think that's what most people were pointing out. The health of your children should come before luxuries. But hey, we all make our choices.

 

[RNMOM]

Okay friends. I think we have hashed out all we can without further harming Robin's feelings/each other as well. I would like to call for a moderator to end this thread.

Anyone wanting to discuss/debate insurance in the gold ole' US of A can begin another thread.

Robin, hope you and Nikki are much better today!

 

[pokiemomo181]

Wobin, I am so sorry about your DD. I am also sorry for the way you have been treated on this board. Some people just have no clue as to how people should be treated in a time of need and stress. Ignore them all. We know what kind of mother, and person you are. Great on both counts. As for your vacations, as long as you pay your bills and not them pay your bills, it up to you where you go, and none of their business. Insurance has gotten to the point of costing so much, and paying so little, that the money spent for it is way out of line. Please know we love you, and don't leave us because of a few rude people. Maybe I'll see you in DISNEY, sometime. Hugs to you my cybor friend.


Pokie

 

[MizlurksaLot]

Originally posted by Briar Rose 7457
yes, I read the entire thread.


a newspaper wouldn't care unless something truly awful happened. fortunately nothing truly awful happened. a newspaper isn't going to care that Nikki was still sick and feverish the next day and had to go back to a second doctor the next day because the first one merely gave her an antibiotic and sent her on her way. if, G-d forbid, something terrible had happened because ehr liver was swollen and the doctor failed to detect it, then the newspapers would be interested.

Perhaps the newspaper would care that the hospital broke the law. No emergency room can turn away anyone/ or neglect to treat them properly wether they have insurance or not. I'm in my early twenties, and there for, have lots of friends who have no insurance for one reason or another, and they have never been turned away at an emergency room, the hospital wouldn't dare. As for not being treated properly, I have to say that unfortunately, that's a problem even for people who do have insurance. I've been lucky enough to never have to be without insurance as of yet. A few years ago I had terrible pain in my back, I was misdiagnosed by my doctor as having a UTI. After two days still in terrible pain, he sent me to the emergency room, where they did no tests, simply put some fluids in me, and gave me some pain medication. Two days later I was in such terrible pain, I couldn't move, and I couldn't keep anything down, including the pain medication. I had to go back to the hospital again, and they finally diagnosed me (after making me wait while I was unable to stand or sit for 4 hours) correctly as having kidney stones.

delswife - you are not a bad mother. The fact that you don't have insurance, for what even reason (which by the way is no one's business but your own) has nothing to do with what happened, the hospital should have given your daughter the proper care - period. That's the hospital's fault, not yours. Glad to hear that she did finally get proper care, hope she's feeling better soon

 

[mbb]

to you and Niki..
Feel better - both of you

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

Originally posted by MizlurksaLot
Perhaps the newspaper would care that the hospital broke the law. No emergency room can turn away anyone/ or neglect to treat them properly wether they have insurance or not. I'm in my early twenties, and there for, have lots of friends who have no insurance for one reason or another, and they have never been turned away at an emergency room, the hospital wouldn't dare. As for not being treated properly, I have to say that unfortunately, that's a problem even for people who do have insurance. I've been lucky enough to never have to be without insurance as of yet. A few years ago I had terrible pain in my back, I was misdiagnosed by my doctor as having a UTI. After two days still in terrible pain, he sent me to the emergency room, where they did no tests, simply put some fluids in me, and gave me some pain medication. Two days later I was in such terrible pain, I couldn't move, and I couldn't keep anything down, including the pain medication. I had to go back to the hospital again, and they finally diagnosed me (after making me wait while I was unable to stand or sit for 4 hours) correctly as having kidney stones.

delswife - you are not a bad mother. The fact that you don't have insurance, for what even reason (which by the way is no one's business but your own) has nothing to do with what happened, the hospital should have given your daughter the proper care - period. That's the hospital's fault, not yours. Glad to hear that she did finally get proper care, hope she's feeling better soon

excuse me, but THE HOSPITAL DID NOT BREAK THE LAW!!


the doctor made a DIAGNOSIS, TREATED Nikki, her a PRESCRIPTION.

how did that BREAK THE LAW?

interesting reading on mono

Because there are so many different symptoms, the doctor may mistake the illness for the flu or even strep throat. In fact, some teens have mono and strep throat at the same time.

 

[C.Ann]

I don't know enough about del's wife or her personal situation to make any kind of judgement..

However, I know plenty about health insurance policies that can be yanked out from underneath you with no advance warning; "affordable" health insurance premiums (with oh so limited coverage) that will only cost you your first born and every penny that has ever crossed your palm; "programs" that are available to the low-income folks - providing they are living in a tent and eating dirt; and all of the other horrors that so many people face in terms of receiving even the most basic health care..

This woman has been beat up enough..

Will a MODERATOR please lock this thread ?????

Hope your DD is feeling better..

 

[Tea Please]

I am sorry that your child is sick, it can be so frightening, no matter what age they are. It's a natural reaction as a mom to hurt when they hurt. I hope for a speedy recovery for Nikki.

But, in reading these posts, I could not agree more, that you really need to reconsider health coverage. I think $600.00 monthly sounds pretty darn cheap. I, and all of us here certainly do not know your real situation only you know that, but what we do know is that if anything catastrophic ever happened, of course you would get treatment but you would not get to pick and choose your physicians and hospitals and most certainly would lose any assests that you may have. More importantly you would never forgive yourself for not providing the "best" for your children.

Good luck to you and Nikki.

 

[jipsy]

Perhaps the newspaper would care that the hospital broke the law. No emergency room can turn away anyone/ or neglect to treat them properly wether they have insurance or not.

What law are you referring to? In 1990 I worked for a private hospital. This means they did not accept any sort of outside "help" or funding from any government sources. Therefore if you showed up and didn't have insurance, they had every right to turn you away and send you over to the public hospital across town, which accepted government funding, plus medicare, medicaid, etc. and were REQUIRED to take you, regardless of your financial situation. Doing so did not break any law. Whether anyone likes it or not, the owners of that hospital were in BUSINESS and anyone who owns a business knows it is not good business sense to accept everyone who walks through the door who cannot give good financial information for paying the bill. The worst part about it (or the best part, depending on how you look at it), is that you received so much better care at the private hospital vs. the public one, because they could afford much better equipment, doctors, nurses, etc. for the very reason that they weren't having to foot the medical bills of people who didn't have insurance or credit cards with unlimited spending.

I state this, not to berate delswife for not having insurance, but to prove the point that turning our healthcare into a socialist system will not make it better, it will only make it worse.

I hope Nikki feels better. I read your post delswife, and it sounds to me like the doctor was way out of line by saying what he did to Nikki. Since SMMC is a not-for-profit health care facility, even though he treated her, it doesn't sound like she got the best treatment. While I do agree that you need to get some sort of insurance if at all possible, it still doesn't excuse the doctor for giving her half-*** treatment. I think I'd be calling the hospital administrator and having a chat...