Even if the nurse made a good point (not saying she did), I don't want someone speaking as an authority until he/she Reveals his/her sources of information and experience. its easy in this little word of nicknames to be anyone. In my previous life I was an astronaut who walked on the moon therefore I am an authority on everything.

Still waiting.

You make an excellent point. :thumbup:


While this is certainly not meant to be a personal attack on the OP, I do believe someone who posted this...
...is open to questions about their credentials.



In doing a search of earlier posts, she freely stated....
My point being that a 30 year old, who is unaffected by this change to TVH, is being pretty presumptuous (not to mention disrespectful) in name-calling to people who have obviously been successful enough in life to retire here.

I am also curious as to how this poster, who admits that she's not even a nurse, has become an insider as to the inner workings of the financials and decision making that typically wouldn't be shared with someone at her current level.

I am guessing that she's simply repeating what others who work with her have been telling her and also can't help but wonder if this 'rant,' was precipitated by being told that her job might be in jeopardy if enough people don't switch? Which is perfectly understandable, but whose comments should be taken with that agenda in mind.

So maybe the OP will come back and clear up/explain what I think are some very simple and common sense questions as to her actual knowledge and involvement. :shrug:

Doubtful. IMHO the post was not only full of unsubstantiated conjecture, it was crude and disrespectful. Excellent? Factual? Really?

Time to play devil's advocate and defend this, well, healthcare worker.

By the terminology and those parts of her post that fit the events, it is likely she is employed by TVH. We had a 7 physician practice with 48 employees, it was naïve to think that everyone, even the file clerks, did not have a pretty good idea of what was going on. That is the nature of a medical office. Even "rumors" weren't usually all that far off the mark. I think we were reading more than "conjecture"

I might have skipped the insulting wording, but is it any more crude or disrespectful than those that called TVH liars, or uncaring, or con artists???

If she is employed there, how could she possibly name sources? Not only would her job be at risk, but also anyone who told her anything.

In all likelihood, there is a lot of truth in her post, and I doubt the head of TVH would come out with the whole story.

I have talked to several Canadian's that agree with you. With the current system in the U.S. trying to please everybody, nobody is pleased and it costs more.

Respectfully, I'll stand by "unsubstantiated conjecture" as a polite description.

If she does work for TVH as implied, I will say I see where she gets the attitude. I really sympathize with her and all their staff since it is likely they hear complaining all day long because of this decision which they had nothing to do with. It must be very stressful indeed and not make for a pleasant working environment.

If she's following this thread perhaps it was a learning experience on several levels. I wish her the best.

Ok, for argument's sake let's call it unsubstantiated conjecture. But if it happens to be true, we can call her a good guesser, but how does it diminish the truth of the situation?

:bigbow: :bigbow: :bigbow:

A very balanced point of view.

Spot on. :BigApplause:

A conspiracy theory really ? Two people alone in a room can`t keep a secret .

Do you also believe that our astronauts did not really land on the Moon ?

Do you believe that the CIA and the " Military Industrial Complex " conspired to take out JFK ?

What would be the " upside " for an employee of the VHS to come on here and try to mislead everyone . So they can protect a job that pays them $52K per year ?
And what would be gained by the VHS by doing so ? Explain what the financial benefit to the business would be .

...

Just for the record, the OP is not a nurse. She is a medical assistant and receptionist.

I'm not a retired doc or nurse, but I did spend 40 years in hospital administration, including academic teaching hospitals. You are correct.

I do not work for TVH. I have family that lives in the villages, a friend that works in billing, and a sister that works for Humana. Nothing I mentioned is anything that is kept under lock and key. Its information that can be researched and obtained by anyone willing to look. Also, I work for a primary care office in The Villages that will be gaining a lot of patients due to this change. What would I gain by boosting UP a competitor? I am nothing but a peon, I gain absolutely nothing. I am simply over all the boo-hooing.

I suspect that just as individual healthcare experiences in the U.S. vary greatly, the same is true in the Canadian system. For example, a resident in your town that could not travel to Toronto would be stuck with the two year wait. But you are deluding yourself by referring to it as "free" Income tax? GST? PST?. Nothing is "free", even Canada spends over 10% of its GDP on healthcare. But I do believe there is free care for lobsters.

Only a fool would decide to buy a house based on a tour-bus guide pointing out the nice medical office facilities nearby, and assume that translates to the developers (The Villages) being ready and waiting to be their medical nanny.

How many people decided to buy their previous homes because there were nice medical office complexes down the street????

It's actually scary to see how many people here expected their employer and its 'mean ole greedy' insurance company to be their medical nannies, and now they expect a builder-developer--who they brand 'greedy' while he subsidizes the huge underpayments from Medicare to keep the place afloat financially--to be their medical nanny.

The o.p. is right in her rant. Think for yourself!!!

Or is that too much work???

Here We Go Again
 

My mother told me "If you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all... You are not going to have The Villages aficionados admit anything remotely is wrong with TV.

It wasn`t Lasik [ cosmetic ' eye surgery . This young woman was age 16 at the time and a Nationally ranked doubles figure skater in Canada .
She developed a rare eye disorder which limited her vision and gave her constant blinding headaches so much so that she had to leave school and could only exist in a very dark room lying down .
Her parents were both corporate execs and they had many many connections in greater Toronto . Yet they were told that they had to wait for a very long time in order to see the type of specialist they needed .
So the parents brought her into the uS and found the treatment the girl needed . All in she lost nearly a full year of her life and suffered a great deal .
I am not trying to say that the Canadian system is bad . I am simply retelling the experiences I saw several f friends and acquaintances go thru .
Also I knew several Drs. who cam across the Border to practice in the US because they were not happy with the prospects for career satisfaction in the Canadian system .
Now having said all of the above I do sincerely believe that the Canadian System is going to eventually prove to be much superior to what we are headed for in the US under the new system .
So called " Obama Care " is still rolling out . Regulations will be changing annually for several more years and I much doubt that Americans will be pleased with what it will eventually turn out to be .
In fact I predict that our voters will demand many changes and the roll-back of numerous regulations created by this still new legislation .

John Maynard Keynes "There is no such thing as a free lunch"

Wow-TVH temper tantrums
 

Bare - I've had the pleasure of consulting at a couple of large Canadian hospitals. In general I believe the system is quite good, but it does have some issues. For one, physician and nurse pay is not competitive. I've been successful in recruiting both docs and nurses to my US hospitals.

There are some procedures (cardiac surgery and some other tertiary level procedures) which have prolonged waits. Certain hospitals in the northern US have a thriving business in recruiting Canadians for these procedures. Paying cash has not been an issue since purchasing private insurance for care outside of the government system has been a practice by many Canadians for some time.

Now, there are also some reverse practices going on where US citizens go for care to see world class Canadian physicians for procedures like lung transplants. Top flight Canadian hospitals can charge Americans cash (and insurance payments) for certain treatments. This supplements their inadequate governmental funding. (That was one of the things I was helping them with.)


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Let's change the circumstances for discussing purposes. What if starting August 1st you have to pay $1 each time you play golf or go in a pool or take a class or drive on the MMP? Sure it's different, but it's the same. We didn't purchase our house because of VHS but at the same time we didn't purchase in another area because it was 20 miles to the closest health facility. We didn't purchase our house because the pools are free and golf is free, etc., but it was all part of the reason we wanted and still want to live here. This to us is a minor bleep on the radar, but it is important to many and I respect that.

Sorry, bad analogy. You can't equate an amenity with a newly organized health care CHOICE. The equivalent to what the disenfranchised are complaining about would be if TV started charging $20 per round on the executive courses, after "free golf for life" was promoted ad nauseam. But in the case of TVH, there is no evidence that any equivalent promise was made.

VHS was implied when we looked at the houses to purchase. When the changes were first being discussed, it was implied we would be grandfathered. I like my analogy.

I like your analogy too. Promises made to bring in business; promises not kept.

I love you, Joyce, but....

I still have my house in NY for sale. I'd be happy to IMPLY it is flawless. I'll IMPLY the taxes are low. I'll IMPLY it will double in value over the next 10 years. When can I expect your check????:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

It's funny how an anecdotal (or even made up) story/stories can take a life of their own.

Very similar to the story/stories about all of us old folks here in TV, spending our time golfing/drinking/having orgies and walking around with our private parts about to fall off due to STD's. :D

I have had the good fortune to have worked with, and become friends with, scores of Canadians and have many times discussed the primary difference in our country's views on health of its citizens.

Long before ACA, I have personally never run across a Canadian that would have changed places with me even though I have a 'Rolls Royce' (even better than a Cadillac :p ) health insurance.

When I brought up all of the stories being bandied about in regards to being denied or waiting an unacceptably long time to receive treatment for a serious condition, they all said that it's possible that it might happen occasionally, but none of them had ever known of anyone that "died waiting to get in for a procedure" or even an untenable waiting time to get treatment for something serious or needed. :shrug:

Which is a lot different story than some people here in the States would want others of us to believe. :oops:

Something one of my closer friends once said has always stuck with me. He stated that it seemed to him that our country placed more emphasis ensuring the stability of those companies that made weapons of war (military industrial complex), than the health of ALL of its own citizens. His exact quote, as I recall was.... "a lot of you Americans seem to have the attitude toward your own fellow citizens of...I have mine, screw you."

Once again, this was long before Obamacare. That particular discussion stuck with me for years and is the reason I was glad to see something being done about insuring more fellow Americans and also eliminating the pre-existing condition exclusion, that so many insurance companies used (unless you were part of a large group plan) to exclude some people from getting the care they needed.

Anyway Barefoot, more than anything I wanted to let you know that as a group, I find Canadians to be at the top of the list of being the nicest, most reasonable, and caring folks that I personally had the pleasure of knowing. :thumbup:


PS. All is not perfect with you folks though. It does tick me off that y'all have had the ability to vacation in Cuba and bring back/own Cuban cigars. :grumpy::cus:


:D

Your house in NY... everything is traceable. Taxes, history of valuation over the years. Comparable sale prices in your neighborhood. You must report at listing anything you know is wrong with the house, unless NY is different from the rest of the US. Otherwise you can be sued for non disclosure. Different situation from VHS.

We were told there would be a buildout in two years back in 2011. Ha ha. The Doctor Welby promotion was a marketing tool they never knew if they could uphold. I'm glad we didn't buy into it. We have the most wonderful doctor outside of the villages who saved my husband's life by recognizing a rare disease. And now that we have such trust in him, I am happy to know nothing can keep us away from his care.

OK, let me re-phrase. I'll IMPLY that there will be a new shopping mall built and IMPLY that there are plans for 6 new championship golf courses and IMPLY a new stadium seating Cinebistro is being built. Now it's the same. Of course, I won't put any of that in writing.....

Okay. But a lot different than playing around with someone's health care, IMO.

That's where you are wrong. Your "wonderful doctor" may change what he accepts for insurance any time. Then what will you say?

When I moved here two years ago I was told that my insurance would be accepted "for now" but TVHC was associated with UHC and there was a possibility that could change going forward. I changed because a review of BCBS in PA was superior to BCBS in FL and UHC Advantage was better than BCBS FL but, I was told that if I went with BCBS there was no guarantee how long it would be accepted. So, yeah they did say that.

Could you share a COPY of those promises, or is this just your understanding?

Actually what she said makes sense......even without documentation. The fact that is relavant is that this is about business and profit. You may choose to believe that or not, but I doubt there is much more to it than that.

Aye, and in the end they won't have that option because our system will have been transformed into one where those same waiting times and rationing will be the norm. Hey, but at least everyone will have insurance. Heh. Sigh.
--
Bob C

Maybe they work for The Villages

I couldn't agree more. :thumbup:

Who decides its "essential"? Just wondering.
--
Bob C

He would have to stop accepting Medicare period. We have medigap insurance that is good anywhere that accepts Medicare. He is private, not in a group, and not beholden to any higher authority. I chose OB's that way long ago and have always chosen doctors that way as well.

Sure he could decide not to accept Medicare, but that is less likely than what is happening with "Dr. Welby-promoted" VHS.

Don't know what your agenda is, Jayhawk. People are being cast off after promises of great care. I call that false advertising.

After reading all these posts and threads, I would like to offer this. Initially, VHS was created to provide a system of health care that differed from the usual in that providers would be allocated more time to spend with their patients. In order to accomplish this, each doctor’s panel would have to be limited so that access was optimal while still spending more time at each visit. Proud of this “innovative” health care system, The Villages promoted it in their literature and in sales visits.
However, this plan flies in the face of current medical economics, where, because reimbursements to providers is the primary place bureaucrats choose to limit the growth of health care costs, practitioners need to schedule as tightly as possible. Thus, VHS at the beginning was heading down a path unlikely to succeed. It would seem they hoped more patients would opt for the MA plan that provided a more consistent flow of income, but that didn’t happen. The primary reason for that is, as seen in these posts, people already had plans either wholly or partly paid by a former/current employer or had plans that provided them the freedom of choice they desired. As a result, revenue expectations were not being met. The disparity between the reimbursement plans and the lump sum from the MA plans is significant. Thus the push for the UHC plan.
Did they anticipate this happening? I don’t think so. I think the same thing happened with Moffitt and USF. Both anticipated greater revenue from MA plans than actually occurred. Both pulled the plug when losses mounted. VHS faces the same dilemma. If they closed down instead of limiting insurance plans, would we be any better off? As far as the director of VHS being the same person that was in charge of the USF plan, I remember reading that he moved to VHS because he believed in what they were trying to do. I have had friends in primary care in various practice models. The burnout rate is high and the satisfaction is low. The VHS model looks better for both patient and provider.