Posted on 07/27/2007 12:34:22 AM PDT by NinoFan
You now have the opportunity to print and carry your very own "'SiCKO' Health Care Card." Playing the 'SiCKO' card has worked for a family in DeBary, Florida, whose daughter suffered profound hearing loss and was denied a cochlear implant. Her father sent a letter to Cigna asking, "has your CEO ever been in a film before?" Before he knew it, his daughter's denial was overturned. It also worked for a family in Flint, Michigan who was stuck with a $66,000 medical bill until they posted their healthcare horror story on YouTube. Click here to see what happened next.
Download the PDF of the card below and follow these simple guidelines:
Carry the card in your wallet with your insurance card.
If denied treatment, show your SiCKO card to your doctor/insurer.
Ask your insurer if they'd like to be in Michael Moore's next movie, DVD, or appear on MichaelMoore.com.
Tell them that, if denied, you will seek coverage from your local media. E-mail your story to michael@michaelmoore.com.
I agree. Disagree with the guy all you want but this could very well be a novel idea.
Why not print up your own M.D. or D.O. from the Internet and treat your own illness? http://www.nd-center.com
LOL!
Sounds like extortion to threaten them with slander in a film. Lengthy lawsuit and negative press campaign or comped services.
The only part of this I don’t like is the possibility of getting used in a Michael Moore book/film. Other than that I’m all about publicity.
Capitalism only works in a transparent medium. The media is supposed to give us fair information we can use to make our free-market choices. TOo bad most of them are just leftie hacks.
The people of the USA are being denied health care, while paying for care of people from other countries. The people of the USA are being abused, and they must cry out. Congress has health care, and the people do not.
Grand idea!
In return they can get charged with extortion (maybe even with their hero Michael Moore as a co-conspirator), similar to those who show copy of Constitution and IRS Form 4340 in court after failing to pay taxes on the advice of “certified” accountant advisers like Irwin Sshiff, who is now spending time in jail... They might even make into “film at 11” which will fulfill their desire to be “on film” or “in the movies”.
Also, they can be given a similarly printed card with a referral to “free” Medical CubaCare in Havana, all paid for courtesy of multimillion medical account set up by aforementioned Michael Moore specifically for this purpose.
No it is not a good idea. Who in the hell do you think ends of up paying for that? The employees who have insurance with these company will see their costs continue to spiral upwards due to increased claims paid out. I agree that the system needs fixing but extortion is not the way to go.
I bet there is a lot more to this story. Perhaps this family did not appeal the original denial and instead jumped on the Michael Moore bandwagon threatening bad press. Once the CEO got involved, it was probably reviewed properly then approved. Not sure. And I am not about to go to his website to check it out.
Nobody is denied health care, it just isn’t free.
The issue is and always has been health insurance.
I believe instead of trying to find ridiculous ways to somehow have expensive health care become magically “free”, or get everyone covered by so-called “universal coverage” that will cost many of us in huge taxes, that the cost of health care itself be affordable.
The sad fact is there is plenty of money and with tort reform and other issues addressed, there could be a system of reasonably priced effective private insurance with free clinics and emergency care for the very poor.
But as long as we are all taxed to death with huge chunks coming out of our paychecks- money that could be paying off personal debt, paying for health care, etc, instead the government wastes billions and billions of dollars every year. If I had the money I’d run a full page ad in every paper and rip congress a new one over what they are doing with our money. Maybe it would wake up enough people to make something happen.
I am also bothered by an insurance industry that seems at odds with a person’s best interests- perhaps it should be more like an employee-owned business where groups can pool money for effective coverage, rather than a company whose best interest as a company is to not pay claims in order to be more profitable.
Then again, it's entirely possible that the original appeal was received by a health information technician who has been told repeatedly that his/her next pay raise is dependent on how many appeals they receive and deny, and rather than applying the criteria correctly, they simply rubber-stamped it and returned it. Not that it ever happens.
This is going to make life...interesting. We deal with denials every day. Real life situation - grandpa (not mine) is eighty-four years old, and has been taking Aricept for the past three years. On his last MMSE, he lost points, and no longer meets criteria for the medication, so prior authorization is denied. The medication is no longer doing him any good. When the family appeals what is obviously a losing situation - does the plan give in and continue to pay for the medication or stand firm on the denial?
Or the one I got to deal with. Seventy-five year old patient with cancer. MD wants him to try a new oral chemotherapy medication. Plan denies it, and advises that in order to authorize the medication, the patient needs to try and fail two types of platinum based chemotherapy. The denial is not based upon any kind of criteria coming from the medications manufacturer, but is based upon criteria made up by the Prior Authorization medical team. They don't look at the facts of the case - if those two treatments fail (which they will, based upon the oncologists evaluation), then the patient will not have time to respond to the denied medication, the patient has had twelve mini-strokes and the required chemo is likely to induce more, or the fact that the patient has had multiple surgeries to treat the cancer and it's simply getting more aggressive. They just look at prior medication history and say "no."
Sorry about the mini-rant - I'm going to have to write more about this.
My personal health care plan is:
Suck it up, don’t be a big crying baby. Try to eat right, live healthy, and when things get bad enough, go to the E.R. Try and throw them some money when you can.
I currently have about $35,000 in medical bills. The hospital, the heart care people, the radiology people, they get what I can afford to give them.
I would be happy if universal coverage was combined with tort reform. the legal system is our only recourse in a free market economy. i don’t want the government to deal with the problem of doctor incompetence.
remember, the AMA is a big leftie union worse than many.
You know, I do not like Michael Moore, but sending him horror stories about our medical insurance problems might just get the bureaucrats to take another look at the “denials” of medical care reimbursements.
I have numerous horror stories about the DOD run Tricare system, (especially as it pertains to retirees living overseas) and have been fighting constantly with their contractor, Wisconsin Physician Services, whose responsibility is to process all overseas tricare claims. Claims are “lost”, reimbursements are denied or only 50% is allowed (unfairly, or because the claims processors use the wrong CPT codes and refuse to admit they made a mistake) and the wait for reimbursement is 6-8 months.
This situation is a travesty and needs a congressional investigation, but none of the Senators or Congressmen have been willing to look into it even though numerous retirees have written to their Congressmen/Senators.
So true.
I had major medical issues and was caught without health insurance. I was never denied any treatment, emergency or otherwise. They realize that few can afford to pay tens of thousands out of pocket, so they’ll let you pay so much a month based on your income. In addition, almost all of the specialists had major self-pay discounts if you paid for each visit on the day you went. Some of the testing facilities were the same way. I think I actually got better (and more complete) care from some of the docs because I was self-pay.
Point is, there’s always the ER for those who have emergencies, and very few regular docs or specialists are going to refuse to see you for day-to-day stuff as long as you pay your bills.
yikes! Freepers getting on the socialized medicine bandwagon. Congress “waking up” to our healthcare situation is a large part of why there is a “problem” now. EVERY system will have holes. EVERY system will have needs unmet. Lots of them. There are a lot of Americans who are more comfortable with some government bureaucrat being the one to blame, rather than an employee of some CORPORATION. Resources are limited, wants and desires are unlimited. We could legislate “compassion” and redistribute resources from now to eternity, and there would still be children who wouldn’t get the most modern whatever. TANSTAAFL.
Yeah, I was surprised by the first few replies, too.
Here is Moore’s “proposal”: http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/health-care-proposal/
Scary, isn’t it?
If you consider "extortion" novel, then I suppose it is.
Perhaps you should ask your doctor's office or insurance provider if they'd like to buy some "fire insurance," just incase their building should burn to the ground.
I’m not sure how I feel about this.
I had a long conversation with my doc about insurance on my last visit. I asked about the “contractural rate” that shows up on my description of benefits and why it’s so low. He explained to me that docs and hospitals “contract” with the insurance companies in a way that says “okay, we expect to see X # of patients with your insurance, so give us a price that you will pay for the office visit” so the insurance company says okay if you meet this quota, we’ll pay X for that level of service.
Turns out “X” is a much lower rate than cash pay, but it’s “guaranteed payment” and that’s why the docs and hospitals do it. My doc said in the first year of his practice, he saw people on a cash basis and had $650,000 in write offs at the end of the year for no pays so he’d rather “contract” and know he’ll get paid.
So, that explains my $18000 hospital bill that was “contracted” down to $6000 from the insurance company and another $2000 from me - along with the $6500 we pay every year for the premium. THEN, I had a severe asthma attack again and my doc ordered me a nebulizer through the closest medical supply co. 10 miles away (I live in a very rural area). I go pick it up and the insurance denied coverage because I didn’t use their mail order service or go to a medical supply they are contracted with - so I paid the $91 and called them to get instructions on submitting a claim. They told me it would go toward my “non-network” deductible.... unbelievable!
Yes, something is VERY WRONG with our healthcare system, especially when we pay these ever increasing premiums and then find out at the end of the year the gross profits the insurance company made for the year.
My job is now offering an HSA... problem is, the premium is still $300/mo, plus full price for all medications, doctors visits, etc. up to $2500 before the insurance kicks in.... who the hell can afford that?
We’re all being taxed to death all to pay for the illegals and special interests of the insane liberals and the deadbeats who refuse to even try to work or take care of themselves. Welfare (medicaid/medicare) for the elderly or disabled is fine, but for all these others who can’t keep their legs closed or get off their fat lazy butts to go to work needs to stop NOW. I’m just sick of it. I don’t want universal coverage by any means, but something has got to give in the healthcare industry. Whether it’s the docs or the insurance co, I don’t know, I only know it isn’t working.
Okay, I’m done ranting now..... :-)
TANSTAAFLAmen.
at the risk of sounding cheesy, I think we got the best end of the deal for your service to the country.
yes that’s right. we wouldn’t have a health care problem if most people exercised more and weren’t overweight
I saw the big putz on Leno last night call for universal [aka Socialized] health care. The audience applause sounded overwhelming. We should worry.
The problem in healthcare financing is not that we don't have enough government intrusion or control and regulations, it's because we have too much of it so it distorts the efficiency and economy of private sector and free market, and constricts the competition for services, not encourages it. Government services and charities should be the last resort in times of necessity, not the first and final solution to any and all citizens' problems.
Want to see horror stories in socialized "universal" healthcare? Check out Canadian and British press or many articles posted on FR, like this latest one :
A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't Work
Or watch British House of Commons sessions to see that 60%-80% of their daily discussions are devotes to how to fix NHS (National Health System) and prevent it from growing broke. Is that what you want your government to do?
Besides, why don't we see how the states who implement their own "universal" care are doing before rushing to impose CubaCare on everyone. If a state is successful in providing "free" good quality care to all their residents more people will flock there or want the same in their states and then other states will follow just to stay competitive. We already had a look at HillaryCare. We can look at the results of RomneyCare in Massachusetts, TennCare in Tennessee.
In Oregon cooler heads prevailed when it was put on the ballot, with overwhelming defeat a couple of years ago, but California just might get itself deeper into debt with Schwarzenegger's plan. With falling housing prices and lower revenue to the state as a result, this could be a repeat of their budget crunch after the Internet bubble which saw their previous Governor recalled.
Illinois will finance healthcare by increasing taxes on cigarettes (we can always tax cigarettes and "the rich" to finance anything that sounds good) - Illinois Senate panels OK cigarette tax, health care plan.
And Wisconsin is trying to go bankrupt with their own totally original homemade plan - Cheese Headcases - Wisconsin reveals the cost of "universal" health care.
Take your pick, there is no shortage of states that want to take over the rest of what's left of your control over your healthcare choice and its financing.
After all, as the states are laboratories of experiments, let's see firsthand (if we don't trust or can't see the reality of the experience of Canada, UK etc.) what happens and be able to change it when it doesn't work to something else that will not work. Health reform looks to the states - Bipartisan support increases for 'test labs' around the nation
And, once the government politicians and civil servants take over the control of your healthcare what do you think will happen to your privacy, and would "politically correct" diseases such as AIDS get priority and more money and attention and resources than ones you are more concerned with. And would embryonic stem-cell and other "politically correct" research projects be financed by newly created state healthcare bureaucracy?
BTW, had Michael Moore ever explained the real cost of "free" healthcare in Cuba and shown real clinics for regular Cuban citizens, I am sure that his "Sicko" movie would make a lot more money than it did, and it would kill any thought that anyone would ever have of "free" "universal" CubaCare as a model of what they want for themselves.
Not at all. Consider the audience of Leno and Letterman in general (their "man on the street" interviews and polls are one indication), and the fact that many acolytes of Moore were probably specifically in the audience for his appearance. "Sicko" was a huge flop, especially given the amazing amount of money and effort spent on advertisement and promotion everywhere. It's a good sign... "Don't worry, be happy."
Michael Moore is now a "known known" (to quote Rumsfeld) as a socialist and a lying loon, and his "star" has descended very fast. Not that he would stop making money for himself (think Rosie O'Donnell, Jesse Jackson, RFK Jr and other "activists") but his "documentary" "journalist" cover is blown and he is now considered nothing more than Leni Riefenstahl for socialist welfare state.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.