Things That Are Bothering You, Got You All Hibbeldy-Jibbeldy, or just downright pissed, RIGHT NOW!

[PhilKenSebben]

[

Load 16 tons and what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Found the old guy

It's complicated. I mean, most of the time you're not paying the healthcare provider per se, you're paying what your insurance tells you to pay. United Healthcare, which is the worst, automatically denies about 20% of all claims just because it knows a certain amount won't get appealed. When your claim is denied then the provider goes after the customer. No one wants to do that as private pay is the shittiest collection rate in anyone's A/R. That's just one aspect.

It's really just a cluster **** of a system and rates are certainly predicated upon a certain amount of uncompensated care and/or reduced billings. This is covered by various means including having a charge master that's way out of whack with reality and the fact market forces are minimally invasive at best.

There's a reason I keep pushing for a Bismarck/Bismarck hybrid system.

Went to the Dr the other day for genetic testing. Was told blue cross blue shield would deny the claim because I had no 1st degree family members with the cancer we were looking for. Was told by doing the test out if pocket (250), bcbs would automatically approve all preventative scans and measures if I had certain markers in the results. Honestly, just send stupid as ****.

 

[ter1413]

i ended up making this patch along with most all of the rest of the circuit in my amp.

p2p is way easier to deal with when things go sideways. what tune were you fiddling with

TWSS!

 

[venividivicibj]

 

[PhilKenSebben]

 

[edinatlanta]

As someone who read the original article that tweet is quite misleading. Part of the problem is that once the tuna is cooked it's proteins break down so inherently it's pretty hard to test for the dna. And then the labs said it was hard to test for dna when you have mayo and bread contaminants plus further degradation of the sample with additional shipping.

It wasn't that there is no tuna dna its that you can't really precisely test for it like this. And fwiw the nytimes story was a bit tongue in cheek about it.

 

[otc]

I'm at O'Hare, but Tortas Frontera isn't open.

How am I supposed to take a morning flight without the nation's best airport breakfast sandwich?

 

[PhilKenSebben]

I'm at O'Hare, but Tortas Frontera isn't open.

How am I supposed to take a morning flight without the nation's best airport breakfast sandwich?

There is a bar somewhere to help with your troubles!

 

[patrick_b]

It's complicated. I mean, most of the time you're not paying the healthcare provider per se, you're paying what your insurance tells you to pay. United Healthcare, which is the worst, automatically denies about 20% of all claims just because it knows a certain amount won't get appealed. When your claim is denied then the provider goes after the customer. No one wants to do that as private pay is the shittiest collection rate in anyone's A/R. That's just one aspect.

It's really just a cluster **** of a system and rates are certainly predicated upon a certain amount of uncompensated care and/or reduced billings. This is covered by various means including having a charge master that's way out of whack with reality and the fact market forces are minimally invasive at best.

There's a reason I keep pushing for a Bismarck/Bismarck hybrid system.

Thank god my wife manages our healthcare. If we just paid the first bill we'd have incurred tens of thousands of out of pocket costs over the years. I had an ER visit and subsequent hospital stay in 2019 that still not 100% resolved.

The worst case we've experienced is when my son was about 6, he got hurt on a playground zip line and needed an ambulance ride to our local hospital. Local hosp determined his liver was lacerated and sent him to Boston Children's. The ambulance ride from our local hospital to Boston (40 mi) was covered with a $100-$200 or so out of pocket.

However, the first ambulance when 911 was called (2 mi ride tops) was out of network and they wanted $5000+ because that company doesn't contract with our payer (Blue Cross). It was infuriating. Who checks in advance of a 911 ambulance call to determine if it's in network?

Probably karma catching up with me. I started working my professional life in commercial insurance (Devil #1) and then ended up working for pharmaceutical companies (Devil #2) for the last 25 years. The only thing I need to add to my resume is finance guy to be considered the worst human imaginable.

 

[venividivicibj]

Thank god my wife manages our healthcare. If we just paid the first bill we'd have incurred tens of thousands of out of pocket costs over the years. I had an ER visit and subsequent hospital stay in 2019 that still not 100% resolved.

So what are you supposed to do, haggle with them?

 

[imatlas]

I pretty much always wait for the final notice, if not the first collections notice. That has definitely saved us substantial money over the years - an entire hospitalization was rejected and had to be resubmitted. That was a $10,000 tab that turned into a few hundred bucks.

 

[jbarwick]

I've called once the bill arrives and asked for a discount. It's hard to haggle on the cheaper things but once things are in the 4-figure and above range, they will play ball.

 

[imatlas]

I'm at O'Hare, but Tortas Frontera isn't open.

How am I supposed to take a morning flight without the nation's best airport breakfast sandwich?

I have definitely done the Terminal C > B > C sprint to make sure I picked up a meal from Frontera Grill.

 

[otc]

I have definitely done the Terminal C > B > C sprint to make sure I picked up a meal from Frontera Grill.

McDonald's breakfast was acceptable, but I was really looking forward to my torta.

Oh well, sitting at SFO now waiting for my wife's flight to land, then we are off to the redwoods!

But pissing me off is that the Amex lounge doesn't let in arriving passengers... Need a departing boarding pass.

 

[Numbernine]

Redwoods? If I see you in my backyard i'ma sic my dog on you

 

[SixOhNine]

Probably karma catching up with me. I started working my professional life in commercial insurance (Devil #1) and then ended up working for pharmaceutical companies (Devil #2) for the last 25 years. The only thing I need to add to my resume is finance guy to be considered the worst human imaginable.

My Contacts professor once told us there are only three truly immoral businesses in America- gun manufacturers, tobacco companies, and insurance companies. It seemed a like bit of a joke at the time, but the older I get, the more I think he was serious. And right.