Aetna

Aetna ( )

15 Comments

Lance Says:
June 1st, 2007 at 8:30 pm
So I had two things I just wanted to ask a professional doctor about and did not have a current Primary Care Physician in the area I had just moved to in Seattle. The company I work for uses Aetna Medical Insurance and I decided to look up any information I could on them, such as how to set myself up with a PCP, by using their website. I found one, requested with the online feature to make him my primary, and waited for my card in the mail with his name printed on it. After it arrived I called the office of this doctor to set up an appointment and the first thing I’m told is that my name is nowhere in their database AND that this doctor is not even accepting new patients. This is the first letdown by this company but still a fairly minor issue, so I have the receptionist set me up with the next available PCP they have who is accepting new patients. Let me point out, I’m a young guy living on my own who has never done this before, totally naive to the way any of this stuff works but just sort of following whatever instructions I’ve read online on how the procedure of finding a doctor and receiving healthcare benefits goes. (According to anything I’ve read, there’s a small fee co-pay for any appointment to see a doctor, which is all I plan on paying.) So I go to this appointment and just talk to a guy for about 5-10 mins and he writes me a prescription. That’s all. A few weeks later I receive a bill explaining that I owe a total of over $400. Part of it being the “hospital fee” and the other part being the doctor fee. I was completely shocked, upset, and confused and called both the office and Aetna. Turns out this place i went, which I had no idea, was considered a branch of a hospital even though it only looked like your typical neighborhood medical clinic so you are billed as if you were just in hospital, having all their equipment used with/on you. I was told any billing issues I have I need to take up with Aetna. After talking then becoming very upset on the phone with several representatives explaining my situation, I was told there’s nothing they can do and that I had to pay this enormous fee. They couldn’t work out anything for me. A young guy living on his own who’s just making it by with the money he makes, naive to their procedures going to a doctor for the first time, makes a mistake (which I honestly don’t think WAS my fault considering nobody told me anyhting about how I’d be charged later or that I was in a “hospital”) and I have to pay this huge bill for just sitting in an office talking to a doctor for at most 10 minutes??????????? F#$k you Aetna! Thanks for all your help after the nearly 5 years I’ve been forking chunks of my paycheck to you and even took payday loans and the first time I want to implement your benefits for myself you ask for this rediculous fee from me!
jojomonkey Says:
June 4th, 2007 at 3:17 am
Wow. I’m in your same boat - young and single and naive about the complexities and nonsense that comes w/ simply getting some treatment. I haven’t even declared my PCP w/ Aetna which my company uses - but reading your story will help me be on my guard. Best of luck to you.
John Gatsio Says:
June 4th, 2007 at 9:45 am
I have had Aetna coverage for ten years. The one or two concerns that I had were handled very well; once, a mistake had been made and was corrected and once, I was mistaken about my deductible.

I think they’ve been great.
Mike Kamal Says:
June 5th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I was just forced off of Lipitor, which I have used for almost ten years, and switched to Crestor by Aetna.

First, the refused to fill my Lipitor prescription until they were able to “confer” with my doctor.

The pharmacist told me that Aetna has a deal with the company that makes Crestor, so they push it to save money.

When I tried to talk about this to a lady on Aetna’s customer service line, she basically told me that I had no choice. IF my doctor filled out a bunch of forms and sent them in, MAYBE they would consider letting me stay on the Lipitor.

Ironically, I will need a series of additional blood tests to see how my body reacts to this new medicine, which I’m certain will cost much more than what Aetna is saving by switching me from Lipitor to Crestor.

Just makes no sense at all.
Joeysmom Says:
June 5th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
My husband currently works for a company that has Aetna as their medical insurance. We pay $380 per month (that is $4560 per year) for a family of four. Every time I take one of the kids to the doctor, I just have to pray that the doctor doesn’t use the ultrasound for an ear infection, or do a urine analysis, or anything other than the regular office visit. Within two weeks of a visit, I get zapped with a bill for over $125. What the hell am I paying $4500 a year for? And to make matters worse, we selected the highest tier of insurance from the company so that they would cover more!
Becky Kilduff Says:
June 5th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
I also had Aetna coverage a little over two years ago when I was diagnosed with meningitis, hospitalized for 2 1/2 weeks and on disability for almost 2 1/2 months at the age of 28. I received great coverage from Aetna and I did not have one complaint the entire time I had this healthcare coverage. After I returned to work, I went on Aetna’s website and you are able to login to see claims that were filed from your doctors. All I could say is “I thank my lucky stars that I have health insurance!” If I had not, I would probably be in collections right now with the hospital, as well as many doctors.
Anan Says:
June 5th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Aetna had performed beyond expectations for my ACL Reconstructive Surgeries on both knees. I had a PPO coverage with Aetna for over 1 year now.

The total expense of the operations was $49,259.
I had to pay $4,252, including the immobilizers, pain killers, and crutches.

The numbers itself are proof for me that Aetna Insurance has helped at least 1 person.
Harvey Says:
June 6th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
It is my sense that Aetna will not acknowledge complaints or investigate allegations of fraud or simple over-billing, e.g. through the mischaracterization of procedures, by medical providers, even though these practices impact them and the consumer. It suggests complete insensitivity to costs, which they pass through their ever-increasing premiums.
Alvin Says:
June 9th, 2007 at 12:47 am
In 1986 I suffered a job related injury that grossly ruptured the L5-S1 disc in my lower spine. The employer accepted full responsibility for the injury and informed me his carrier was Aetna - ‘wish I’d never met ya.’ I lived in excruciating, debilitating, demoralizing, depressing, even paralyzing agony during weeks of outpatient treatments, while Aetna was contemplating my case - although not too quickly or very seriously. Accessing my own medical coverage (the Blue Two) became necessary while remaining vigilant with the dithering Aetna, who just couldn’t make up its corporate mind, and with the employer, who was constantly apprised of the situation and urged in earnest terms expressed through teeth grating against the searing, excoriating pain, urging him to motivate Aetna to do what it had accepted his premiums to do. As the weeks grated on, shredding through increasing thresholds for pain, a consensus among several disciplines of medical specialists determined there was no alternative remaining, but the knife.

Nearly a month had languished in agony while Aetna’s lethargy held it intransigent. Finally, my own insurance coverage nearly exhausted (and, yes, I did ‘sick’ them on Aetna for their reimbursement), relief became imperative. The injury occurred in NYC where all preliminary medical treatment and analysis was performed under my personal insurance, however, under welcomely leaden sedation, I flew home to Los Angeles and a highly recommended surgeon, anticipating the worst. He ordered immediate hospitalization and intended the filleting to begin within hours. DO NOT PASS GO! The surgeon’s staff informed me Aetna still had not authorized any part of the procedures: none of the diagnostics, treatments, nor medications from NYC; nay, verily, now in Los Angeles, not the hospital, nor physician; not even pain medication.

Most fortunately for me (was it odd to think myself fortunate under such circumstances?), the ‘big guns’ had been held in reserve. My late, life partner’s father happened to be a Nationally prominent, the penultimate, megawatt, power broker, literally a Philadelphia lawyer - “Da” to his children, “Big Ed!” to everyone else - ‘though not to his face. A call to Ed in Philly, who apparently had a select word or two with Aetna, resulted in spontaneous authorization. Aetna Van Winkle had miraculously awakened! Truly, within minutes of concluding “thank you’s” to Big Ed, the doctor’s office staff was directing me across the car park toward the close to hand orthopedic hospital. Yet, all was not blue skies and butterflies. With a year of rehabilitative physical therapy skulking sullenly along the corridors of Tomorrow, there’d be more recalcitrance from remittance reticent, remedial Aetna.

Under the misnomer of Free Enterprise, a third or more of clients’ premiums are skimmed by the Corporation before there are any dollars available to patients’ needs - far fewer dollars than in National Single Payer Plans common throughout the industrialized world. At this juncture of my life, following a series of unfortunate circumstances, I have a little experience in a rudimentary SPP, although none dare name it thus. Those are tales for another time; however, lest you assume in error, present “SSP” encounters are infinitely superior to the anguished history with Aetna.
john w Says:
June 16th, 2007 at 2:53 am
There is a dreadful new wrinkle for patients on maintenance meds called “home delivery” which is the biggest pain imaginable. The rules change continuously and the amount of legwork to continue receiving blood pressure and cholesterol medication in my case, is a full-time job.

I was directed by my doctor’s office to have aetna contact him for refills and then was told by aetna that he had to initiate contact with aetna.

Why does a patient need to intervene at every step to ensure every silly form and fax is completed? Get into the 21st century and automate and use tools to improve your efficieny and ease the patient experience. For god’s sake you still push paper and rely on faxes for Rx information transfer? How backward will aetna continue to be? Have someone with a brain and an MBA discuss to your senior management that utilizing technology to reduce your operating costs and inproving efficieny is old news in virtually every other business!

I think the way those of us that do get insurance suffer because of the way healthcare plans are peddled. There is no competition element that has made for product and service improvements in other segments of business. It is like none of the normal rules apply to giant insurance providers. Everyone is in cahoots with everyone and the patient suffers in the end. Big companies vie for lucrative corporate accounts and the employee/patient has no vote in the process. If companies instituted a complaint line that would affect health insurance decisions I bet the aetnas of the world would need to change the way the run their business and shift to a patient-centered model since one bad complaint could in theory cause a company to shop around. What a concept! The american automakers would still be making garbage cars if we did not buy japanese cars of higher quality in the 80s that woke detriot up to focus on quality and value.
chris Says:
June 16th, 2007 at 7:07 am
Aetna PPO for 7 years, and nary a concern that is worth mentioning. It would be nice if coverage limits were higher, but I shift that burden back to my employer. As far as what matter to me -quality of care, ease of submitting a claim, no need for referrals- I really can think of no good reason to knock Aetna. 4 out of 5.
Branman Says:
June 16th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
I HAD to get Aetna, no one else would cover me. I was dropped from Blue Cross Blue Shield when they found out that I had high BP and high Chl, too risky for them. So I applied to anyone, literally anyone who might be willing to cover me, but nope no one, since I was a single self-employed individual. I went without health care for over 3 years, and was scared almost everyday that something may happen to me, and there would be no way for me to pay.

Finally I found a loophole and took advantage of it.

Aetna really does screw you at every turn: prescriptions, dr visits, labs, everything, but at least I have coverage.

This past week, I actually took a government job, not because I want to work there, because of the availability of health care coverage.

Why is the course of my life actually being dictated by health care corporations?
Welcome to Dick Cheney’s America.
Jesse Says:
June 16th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Part of insurance is contract, it is important for each individual to understand and utilize his or her plan in a way that best suits them. Insurance is exactly that, it insures or guards you again uncertain lose however, your contract defines what this lose may be. As with any contract there are provisions and stipulations. I have had favorable experiences with each company I have worked with because I understand this concept. Today people need to focus on preventative medicine and taking care of themselves better. In America we live among some of the fattest people, biggest killer in the US……cardiovascular disease. I ask you, is this the responsibility of the people, the doctors, or the insurance? This is a shared responsibility, or should be but primarily the responsibility to take care of oneself rests upon themselves. Please beware of the false concepts you may get from this movie.
Amanda Says:
June 17th, 2007 at 9:12 am
My husband has developed severe back pain, and after locating a chiropractor in our ‘plan’, he called Aetna to make sure that they were 1. in our ‘plan’ (as a precautionary, because you just really can’t trust the bastards) and 2. to make sure he didn’t need a referral. The person on the phone told him directly that no, you do not need a referral and that yes, this particular doctor is in our plan. My husband then began treatment with said doctor. It turns out you can’t trust the bastards when you ask them direct questions, because we suddenly received a $300 bill. When my husband called to inquire why we received this, he was told that he 1. did not choose a doctor in our ‘plan’ and 2. you guessed it, he needed a referral afterall. Thanks Aetna.
Melanie Says:
June 17th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
I signed up for private healthcare to bridge coverage between two jobs (no gaps - or you are toast!) I was quoted a rate and then underwriters rated it up $50 a month because I had seen a doctor for a fungus infection on my toe. Nothing else is on my health record. Go figure! Go to UnitedHealthcare to read what I experienced with them
harriet spector Says:
June 17th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
My husband works for a company and we chose Aetna POS because we wanted to choose our own doctors. Well
they contract with hospitals and when you get your bill, it will have the actusl amount and next to it is the contracted amount. Most of the time Aetna pays 100% of the contracted amount and we are responsible for the difference. Well, that difference pays for all the people who don’t have insurance.
After paying over $5000\yr for 2 people, why do we have to pay for the uninsured?? We were responsible and got insurance. It’s not our fault other people don’t have insurance. There are a lot of people out there who know how to play the “game”
My husbnd is a pharmacist and after seeing so many people throw down their Medicaid card to pay $1-2
for a presciption really frost him.
I have NS and he has a severe hesrt condiion. He can’t afford to retire because of the cost of our drugs. One of the drugs I use costs $300/3months. That’s just one and I take about 10-12 evey day. They say we should all take generics but it’s difficult when the drug companies don’t make generics for most of these drugs. Would you believe most of the people with Medicaid cards complain about paying the $1-2
for their precriptions!!!
Amy Says:
June 18th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
I suffer from chronic pelvic pain, a painfully isolating condition that just doesn’t go over well in casual conversation. I’ve almost never had pain-free intercourse, which led to the demise of several relationships. After being passed off by R.N. after R.N. at the student health center in my college years, I had graduated and I had a full time job with benefits. I finally found a doctor that could treat me, and I began physical therapy.

At first, Aetna was quite responsive to the bills I sent in. Within three weeks I usually had a check in hand to cash. But after a few months they started to drag their heels. They found insidiously annoying little reasons to reject or delay bills. Their first trick was to only accept 1 of the 4 fifteen minute long units of physical therapy, thereby only paying me $30 of the $200 bill. And so I would dutifully circle the units in heavy black pen before faxing off the bill. Then they decided they couldn’t find the diagnostic code which was staring them right in the face. So I went about circling that on each bill as well. Pretty soon the bill was racked with circles, arrows, stars, anything ANYTHING to catch their attention to the pertinent information sitting right on the paper.

I’ll never forget one conversation with customer service. Again, a bill was being delayed, this time because the diagnostic code was incorrect (apparently the previous 35 identical codes were just dandy). The woman on the phone was asking me what the code meant and I told her it was for vaginal vestibulitis. And she said ‘Vestibulitis? Isn’t that an infection? If it’s an infection it should be billed as.. blah blah blah’ and I corrected her, trying to explain that it wasn’t an infection but a chronic condition. I thanked my lucky stars that I was a biology major in college, otherwise I’d never be able to babble off enough medical jargon to silence this woman. Why was I even discussing this with that woman? That’s what they invented the codes FOR. So you don’t have to explain to some random woman with no medical background that you’re vagina feels like it’s on fire, there’s no known cause, no known cure (only palliative treatments), and no one to blame but your own crap luck. But in fact, the medical codes are just there to expedite human error and delay delay delay payment.
gearlean parker Says:
June 25th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Why isnt “Virginia Premier Insurance on the list of insurance companies who have wronged many also.
Georgia Says:
June 25th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I took out a better policy with my company then the one they offered on 7/1/07…I am also on medicare…and work fulltime. I pay 450.00 a month out of my own pocket and my employer pays the same..to have the top plan. Well, they have not paid any of my bills. since 7/1/07 and now are being made to pay them..they waited for medicare to pay..when indeed they are the primary…and now they are fighting between each other .they have litterally screwed up everything.. and made a complete mess…
..this has been going on for a year. I have had two surgeries, and broke my ankle which required surgery…and they are just now paying the bills.. the surgeries were in Nov,Dec of 2006…..and here it is June.. 2007 …they are worthless..and they collect those premiums every month… Now, they are changing my plan….I will be paying more come7/1/07 and getting less.. No kudos for Aetna….but, they are all the same…worthless… The american people need to start questioning everything these insurance companies do. Cheers for Michael Moore… Ask yourselves Americans..Who has the tallest buildings in the world and the most…the insurance companies…they should hang their heads in shame…
MMP Says:
June 25th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Oh the irony!

This is a continuation of the above mentioned account of my husband’s issues with Aetna during his Hep C treatment. Just hours before seeing Sicko (where I discovered that this type of treatment by the insurance companies is commonplace) we received a bill from Aetna Specialty Pharmacy for the Procrit my husband has been taking for the duration of his treatment. Although Aetna refused to pay for continued treatment with interferon and ribavirin, they had sent us a letter approving his Procrit prescription — so we were quite surprised upon opening the bill to find that we owed $400+ dollars (we’ve never had to pay for anything but a copay before this). My husband called Aetna this morning where they informed us that while they had approved him for Procrit, they decided not to pay for it and had shifted the payment to our insurance carrier (apparently our Aetna health plan is separate from our Aetna Pharmacy plan) and we still had to meet our deductible. My husband was irate that they hadn’t notified us of this and told them to hold off on ordering his next dose until he spoke with his medical plan and doctor. Once he spoke with them and learned that after this bill we wouldn’t have to pay anythng else, he got back on the phone with Aetna and asked them to order his next dose of Procrit. This time they refused until we paid for the prior bill (which we received two days ago!) right away — as in giving them our bank card number over the phone! They told us our account was frozen until then — even though we technically have 30 days to pay (and have never been late on a bill!). Luckily we have enough to cover it, but I know there are people out there who wouldn’t be able to cough up an extra $400+ instantaenously. What would we have done then?!!! The lack of compassion and professionality is unbelievable. Not to mention how utterly powerless we are to be able to do anything about it. These people are out of control - we can only hope that the SICKO revolution puts an end to this before the next illness…
FYI Says:
June 25th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Becky,
I had that too, at the age of 19, and my heart goes out to you. I am glad you have recovered!
kat Says:
June 26th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Aetna didn’t cover my pap test, saying that there was a co-pay for the test, which was about 3 dollars less than the test itself. This was after i paid a co-pay for my doctors appointment.

they also didn’t cover any 2 medications (one of which is generic) even after my Doctor called in for pre-certification.

this is the worst insurance i have ever had– over all, i would be better off paying cash for my health care. If my employer continues with this plan, i may choose to buy my own instead.
Shanna Says:
June 26th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I have had Aetna through my employer for 7 years now and I have never had to pay more than a $50.00 copay (for an emergency room visit) and $5.00 for prescriptions. They have always provided me and my family with more than sufficient medical coverage. I’m sorry to hear that so many other people have not had the same quality experience.
Michael Nixon Says:
June 26th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Aetna is so stupid. I have to take Remicade (Infliximab) for my Crohn’s disease. My doctor would like to start giving Remicade treatments inhouse. The problem is that the insurance companies demand discounts that would make it unprofitable for the doctor to give the Remicade. My hospital charges $ 12,000 for a drug that costs them $ 2,000. Aetna gets a discount of about 40% that puts the bill at $ 7,000. My doctors price would be about $ 2,500.00 less 40% would create a minimum of a $ 500.00 loss.
Paul H Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 2:48 am
I’ve had Aetna since it bought out USHealthcare, and although I’ve had my share of difficulties with them, the doctors have been more troublesome than the insurance company. Recently, Aetna’s servers crashed at the moment I needed tests, and I was unable to get approved. I am still waiting. Aetna wasted my appointment, costing me the copay, parking fees, and a day off work. THANKS A LOT, YOU JERKS.

I may switch to Der Kaiser as an alternate this open season, but, really, aren’t they all the same ?

Maybe universal healthcare is the answer, and maybe it’s a nightmare, but what we have is fraught with all kinds of red tape, bureaucracy, and profit-driven BS.
I can’t be certain that America can improve its healthcare system with our current business model of profit-over-patient care.

I’ll be sure to see this movie IF it comes to Atlanta, or at least catch it on DVD. It’s bound to be as good as Farenheit 911 or better. Anything that exposes corruption in the system is a hit with me.
Sara C. Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 4:30 am
During my freshman and sophomore years of college, a number of graduate students went on strike. It was not a huge number, but it turned out that one of the things they were protesting was the health insurance package. You see, our university president at the time was a board member at Aetna and had given her company a monopoly over insurance policies for university employees. As a result, grad students were saddled with a policy with the fewest options but with high premiums.

(On a side note, I’ve been living in Italy for the last year. I have no way of being insured here, but I still have access to the public care system. Granted, you feel a bit like you get what you pay for — 4 hours’ wait during an ear infection results in 5 minutes with the doctor, but the result is a competant enough diagnosis and a prescription for the proper medication coming to around $20 at the pharmacy. Had to pay $50 in the Czech Republic to see a non-English-speaking doctor for my sinus infection, but that, too, was properly examined with an x-ray and also resulted in the proper medication for about $20. I also watched my Canadian-Italian boyfriend use his Canadian Universal Insurance card to take care of his hand injuries in a hospital in Abruzzo, Italy. His government looks out for him. The Italians and the Czechs took care of me. Why can’t the US take care of its own?)
Steve E Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
I have a special needs daugheter who has a debilitating vision disease, identified at the age of four. This little girl has gone through 4 serious eye surgeries, weekly visits to our local doctor in GA. and monthly visits to specialist doctor in Boston MA.
Daily eye drops and daily oral meds both very expensive.

To summarize Aetna has been Awesome in taking care of my little girl. How about a good news - or a health care success story somewhere in the press.

Without Aetna and one of the best doctors in the world behind us, my little girl would be blind.
Thank you Aetna
Chris Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 12:52 am
Aetna’s drug prescription coverage will often require the doctor to prescribe specific versions of the medicine before others can be used. In my case it was my step-daughter who has ADHD and has been taking liquid Generic Methlin since before she started being covered by Aetna through my work. Aetna refused to cover this medicine as other versions of the same drug are required to be prescribed first. All of those versions are in pill form and non-generic, and extremely difficult (if not impossible) to get her to take. Additionally they pretty much turn her into a walking zombie.

By per accident we figured out how to resolve this. The doctor sent the prescription for the pill based ADHD medicine to the pharmacy, I went and payed the co-pay for it and picked it up and put it on the shelf. After that the pharmacy was able to fill the prescription for the liquid medicine and able to file the claim with Aetna for partial coverage. I still have to pay a $50 co-pay for it but thats better than paying the $95+ that the full amount is.

So if you run into this yourself, you can just get the prescription for the drug you dont want, file it, say it didn’t work, then get the drug you do want prescribed and possibly covered.
Cindy L. Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
I have had Aetna PPO “coverage” for many years. I thought I had pretty good coverage and customer service.

But I’ve found out that they will use every trick in the book to deny claims if you need enough surgery and physical therapy to reach the stop gap limit on co-pays (the point at which Aetna is supposed to pay 100% on your claim).

I spend a minimum of several hours per week tracking my claims and making sure every bit of information is tacked onto them so “medical decision review boards” can decide whether or not they feel like paying my claims. Sometimes I spend an hour or more at a time on the phone with “customer service”

For example - my physical therapist’s office submitted my entire medical record, treatment plan and notes, progress notes for each visit as ordered by Aetna THREE TIMES. All the while Aetna was denying all of my physical therapy claims, saying Aetna “got no response to their requests” for these records. Finally I called and told them the records had been sent “return receipt requested” - so they were indeed there somewhere, and they had better find them.

It took the the assistance of an in house advocate to locate the documents and get them entered into the system so my claims could be “considered for payment”. The claims were paid, but I have to go through this EVERY TWO WEEKS in order to get coverage for continued treatment!

It is stressful and exhausting going through this checking and begging process just to get the care I need. God help me if I ever become too sick to spend so much time and energy trying to get my claims paid!
Bunny Says:
July 1st, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I’ve had USHealthcare my whole life, up until they were bought out by Aetna. Leaving home and getting a full-time job, I naturally picked the insurance that I have always had. Afterall, all of my doctors take it and I wouldn’t have to search for new ones. I’ve never really had an issue with Aetna rejecting claims or charging me for things. The ONLY time they’ve messed up is when I had to get an ultrasound and the guy on the phone assured me there would be no co-pay. Lo and behold, I end up having to pay $35 for this… but in hindsight, at least I didn’t have to pay full price for it. I’d like to get that money back, but I doubt seriously it’ll ever happen.
Yen Says:
July 3rd, 2007 at 11:02 am
The only thing that I’ve learned about the American method of healthcare is that it’s always a dice roll. Obviously there are many of us that have insurance that still dumbfoundedly find ourselves opening bills for uncovered visits and luckily some of us that have things covered. I think they include all the fine print disclosures that we never bother to read and just pray that it’s “covered this time.” Does anyone out there ever REALLY know what they’re going to owe in the end? I had to go to the ER the other night and I have NO CLUE what it’s going to cost. Just another shot in the dark.

Seeing SiCKO made me sad for our country. You hear Republicans talking about the long lines and lower level of care should a universal plan be put into affect, but what do they think is going on right now at low income clinics nationwide? Hearing the Canadian accounts (assuming they were real) at the hospital waiting room, “20 minutes, 45 minutes tops..” infuriated me as I was the ONLY person in the waiting room (in Chicago the other night) and I still had to wait 35 minutes to be seen and then sat for over an hour to get a simple urinalysis result back. Atrocious. It can’t get worse for the people. And by “people” I don’t mean the uber-wealthy, call-the-doctor-any time-of-day-because-I-can-pay-for-it people. I mean the other 99% of us.

SiCKO - The Official Site - In Theaters June 29th

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