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Jeff and others If the government can buy it at a lower cost and what they buy is good for the public, let the government do it. I'm willing to pay my share of the taxes. I had an interesting set of transactions dealing with this exact point recently: I have PD and cardiac problems. I had a couple of molars which had to come out. The oral surgeon said he was afraid to remove the two molars in his office. He felt that the procedure should be done in a hospital setting under a general anesthetic. He said he felt it would be difficult to work with a moving target and that if a cardiac or other problem arose, it would be safer in a hospital environment. He wrote a letter of medical necessity citing those two reasons and the fact that I had trouble with anesthesia before. There was a big mix-up in the insurance. Medicare is primary and BlueCross is secondary[excess]. Medicare does not pay for any costs associated with dental work EXCEPT where there is a letter of medical necessity or there is an accident. The hospital sent the bill to Medicare but put on the wrong code. I paid the dental surgeon (partially with $$ from BlueCross dental coverage). The anesthesiologist sent me a huge bill. I tried to find out why there was no payment from insurance other than a small payment from the dental part of BlueCross. It was then I found out about the code mix-up between the hospital and Medicare. I paid the anesthesiologist what I thought his bill should have been. His office wanted the whole thing and turned my account over to a collection agency who really got nasty. I very reluctantly paid what was demanded to keep my credit rating good. I paid him a total of $440.00 for what was for him a few minutes work. Finally the hospital and Medicare got together on the proper coding, and the anesthesiologist was paid $283.36. Then the anesthesiologist had to give me my $440.00 back. The anesthesiologist had effectively overcharged me $156.74 on what should have been a $283.36 bill. His contract with Medicare and Blu eCross requires him to accept their evaluation of what his charges should be if he wants to be continue as a participating medical provider. He also had to absorb whatever the collection agency charges were. Total hospital charges were less than the deductible, so the final cost was covered by BlueCross. The anesthesiologist thought he could gouge me on his bill, but my government made him accept reasonable payment for his services. In years gone by the medical professions often played "Robin Hood," overcharging the rich and undercharging the poor. Today the reverse is often true. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Bayard" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2002 5:19 PM Subject: The Government should pay for it??? > I have seen a couple of notes about making the government pay for > prescription drugs > lately,..........well, ......... > Just a very short note, one to ponder and think about. > Remember, if the government pays for it.........now, keep that in mind. > Where does the government get their money? > > Taxes. The ones I pay and all employed Americans (talking US here). > > The tax that I pay as a business owner, and my paycheck. I have two children > a wonderful wife, and must provide for my family. My car has over 94,000 > miles on it, > I have less than 1,000 in saving........ > Have you studied your pay stub? I clearly see mine, and all the money > government takes from me now......DO I WANT MORE taken away from me and my > family? NO! > > Come on now, lets be real about this. > I dont want a firestorm debate, but just a reality check. > So, I challenge those that have a job. > > Go to your neighbor and offer to pay for their next prescription. > Same thing as allowing the government to start giving away drugs? > > Think about it. > Jeff Bayard > Help Find the Cure! > http://dialforacure.com > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn