Did you know some state Medicaid programs cover gender reassignment surgery? I use to work prior authorization for United Healthcare Medicaid. I think we need to reconsider this one… in my opinion. It kills me that my tax dollars are paying for this. And they are also handing out gastric bypass surgeries left and right.
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I understand your frustration with doctors, as I’ve run into the same issues. I’ve started seeing a functional medicine/integrative healthcare doctor. She has helped me tremendously! I pay out of pocket for my visits, but it’s been worth it in my case. I spent years seeing “mainstream” physicians and they were unable to diagnose and treat me. Functional medicine saved my life!
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Totally agree
My wife is a chiropractor with a masters in nutrition and can’t even use that masters because people don’t want to pay out of pocket for it. That needs to be covered. I also used to work with medical billing software for chiropractors and the payments they receive from insurance is pathetic. They go through the same amount of school as other providers and get paid a fraction of the amount plus are typically limited to X amount of visits.
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I agree
I do agree with you about chiroprators. Being a veteran, they send me invoices from my primary care physician and while they may pay her more than a chiroprator the payments are still far less than what she bills which I consider reasonable.
Did you know that hospitals can bill more because they get to charge a “Facilities Charge”?
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This is my #1 issue as regards healthcare/medical insurance. I have spent a huge amount of money on naturopathic treatments that have actually worked for me, where insurance covers the co-pay for the ND visit and nothing else. Fortunately something is covered, but it is a tiny fraction of the total cost.
I’m thinking about nutritional IVs, blood ozonation, colonics, biofeedback sessions, bioidentical hormone implants, thermograms, hyperbaric oxygen chambers, weight loss treatments and more. Prescribed supplements and natural remedies and compounded hormones should be covered too.
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We need to elevate the “alternative” health care practices to the level of allopathic care (western medicine). That would require having a “health care” system that treated the whole person as well as root causes of our ailments.
We have an Illness care system rather than a Preventative Health, care system.
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If we are obligated by law to have Medicare or Medicaid or some type of insurance, they should include all whatever the patient needs must be covered
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Absolutely! I’d also like to add anyone graduating from medical school should be required training in natural health & healing and show some level of proficiency in it so they can open up their tool box. We have to advocate for our own health but “you don’t know, what you don’t know” and too many people aren’t aware there are options because their doctors were never given these tools or even the knowledge to discuss them professionally as options. We should not have to blindly shop around for modalities. Testing for mold, lyme, heavy metals, gut microbiome, TCM, Ayurvedic, chiropractic, Reiki, etc should all be offered at onset of symptoms even before recommending pharmaceuticals. Right now I know that’s asking a lot, but a girl can dream.
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RN here and I completely agree! My specialty is geriatrics and the amount of medications these individuals are prescribed is completely asinine. We are not looking for the root cause of ailments but rather prescribing a “band-aid” which leads to another ailment and the need for another 'band-aid" until individuals are taking 10+ medications daily. I worked at a SNF previously and one of our residents had 22 oral medications and 5 different eye drops just for her first morning medication pass.
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I agree with every one of these comments! If it wasn’t for my functional medicine doctor, who knows where I’d be today. It’s expensive but I look at it as an investment in my health. That perspective on it, gets me through. However, we literally spend as much on functional medicine treatments and healthy food as we do for our health insurance that we hardly use. We have it in case of an accident or emergency.
We don’t qualify for a health savings account because we have a 1000 deductible and that’s considered a low deductible. We couldn’t believe we didn’t qualify to open a health savings acct…RIDICULOUS. So that needs to change as well! Anyone should be able to have a health savings account.
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On the surface, this sounds like a great idea, I only see NMD’s and it would be wonderful if I didn’t have to pay out of pocket. However, it has a very dangerous side.
Make no mistake about it, Insurance Companies are the real customer for the doctors, not you. You and your health are completely secondary and your opinions and needs do not mater.
Insurance companies fully control the doctors. They approve or deny recommended diagnostics leaving and he doctors know this so the doctors only use the ones they will get covered. Often times, a doctor will not even recommend what he/she knows will be best for you because insurance won’t cover it. So they don’t even talk about it or give you (the supposed customer) the choice.
When I go to an NMD, the docor ALWAYS recommends what he thinks is best. If I tell him it is out of my budget, then he will try to help find an acceptable and lower cost alternative at my discretion.
I don’t want insurance companies controlling my doctors. Unless, and until there is MAJOR Insurance reform giving control back to the people, I want Insurance to stay out of my health care.
This is a brilliant idea to give people who are under 65 with a disability, people who are 65 and older, and those with low income access to natural medicine. This is a major step forward in the process of making America healthy again.
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A lot of functional medicine doctors in Nevada take cash and refuse insurance. Unfortunately, the cash rates seem to be increasing.
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Totally agree. That said, I believe this is a complicated fix, with the easiest piece being experimenting with CMMI - Medicare Innovation Center to offer some sort of value based care reimbursement for alternative treatments. Another approach would be to expand HSA dollars, perhaps increase deductibles in health plans, with the effect being that citizens would have more choice, but would still have the tax benefits for employers and employees around benefits.
Agree 100%. I want functional medicine, nutritional support, acupuncture, massage, etc, but they are not covered. I’m not interested in having a stranger manage my health with screenings and putting me on drugs, which is why I avoid doctors like the plague.
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Completely phase out Medicare and Medicaid - get government out of healthcare! The $ is kept by the people so they can do health savings plans, alternative insurance and pay cash!
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That’s precisely what we were doing - catastrophic coverage only, and we cover our maintenance and small doctor costs along with cash-priced testing and services when we needed them. It worked great for us. And Obamacare took that option away from us (“you can only get it if you’re under 35 years old”) despite it being EXACTLY what we needed.
For us, as senior adults who manage our health moderately well, the only thing we need protection for is catastrophic illness or accidents. But the “People Who Know Better Than Us What’s Good For Us” say we can’t have it.
That Should Stop. Let us buy what WE decide is best for us.
BTW, the way I got to “managing my healthcare moderately well” is through a functional medicine doc. Prior to that I had all sorts of issues - the same kind that took my sister’s life - and the MDs were getting me precisely … worse.
I paid cash for my work with that integrative medicine doc, but in the end analysis, it cost me less than 3 months of obamacare premiums (and that’s not even considering the $12,000 deductible), and it actually figured out what was happening. Knowing Root Cause is a beautiful thing. Now I work with an integrative medicine doc who is an independent provider (doesn’t take insurance) on a subscription program (like concierge medicine). Works well, reasonably priced, the doc is AWESOME.
But would insurance cover it? Not A Dime.
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I am a health and wellness coach with a local and online program to help as many women as possible become the authority over their own health and fitness through Christ who strengthens them.
I have 20 years experience in the health and fitness industry coaching women of all walks of life. I have a bachelor degree in Exercise Science and nutrition and have had numerous certifications including life and health coaching from The Health Coach Institute, ACE personal training and Crossfit and other certifications.
I believe that our children are our future so we need to teach them to take preventative action to get control over their health and fitness so that they can teach their children and our future generations to do the same.
And it starts with at home with us. I am just one health and wellness coach with a simple local and online program teaching the basics of building healthy habits, balancing macros, eating clean, building strength, mobility and endurance, regulating the nervous system, all by using biblical principles so that I can teach others to maintain a healthy quality of life well into their older years.
I want to be a part of a movement bigger than myself with a network of naturopathic and functional doctors and organic farmers so that I can refer my clients to other trusted professionals when necessary. And I believe that providing insurance for these holistic approaches to medicine will make such a huge impact on the health of our nation.
“Alone we can do little, together we can do so much.” -Helen Keller
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