Originally Posted by Barefoot (Post 1258301)

As a Canadian with many older friends, I've never once heard of anyone waiting six months for an essential operation.
Or being refused treatment based on age. Never. :ohdear:

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 1258593)

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.

Originally Posted by Villageswimmer (Post 1258641)

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.

Originally Posted by inthemindofanurse (Post 1258094)

It absolutely amazes me the way some people behave. *Begin rant -Those of you that are infuriated about the TVH insurance change should educate yourselves a bit before showing your rear. Hopefully you have kept your letters about how you were grandfathered in for the rest of the existence that TVH has their doors open! Come on folks, be realistic. At the time of that letter there was no plan to go to only UHC MA. You were not conned. You were not lied to. You were not deceived. You were told that for the time being you would be taken care of. Things change. As far as TVH being money hungry devils....well, just an FYI they lose millions, yes plural, of dollars a year by accepting the other insurance carriers. Why, do you ask? Because in order to provide 30 minute appointments, in order to ensure that if you are in the hospital one of the TVH doctors see you, in order to ensure that there are 30 + open appointments available for call ins, in order to ensure that all of your care is coordinated through your primary, in order to ensure that you are taken care of and pampered the way you are-INSURANCE HAS TO PAY FOR IT!! BCBS said heck no, Cigna said not a chance, Humana wasn't biting, Aetna said no thanks. United Health Care said yes. These other insurance plans WILL NOT pay for these things! Please explain how TVH can continue to provide a 30 min appointment and only get paid for 12 minutes of it?! Will you accept being told they no longer offer 30 min appts because your ins will only pay for 10? No, you won't. Will you accept waiting 2 hours for your 10 min appt because the office had to schedule 30 patients for that doctor just to make the money to keep the doors open? Doubt it. At the end of the day you are just being whiney brats. TVH has not changed. They are still the best patient centered medical office in the state of Florida. They want nothing more than to continue to be the best and treat YOU, yes YOU the best. But open your eyes and realize that this kind of care has to be paid for. Like I said, MILLIONS of dollars lost. MILLIONS of dollars in the red! No, it's not so your doctor can drive home in a Mercedes. No, it's not so the medical director can get a yacht. No, it's not so the CEO can go skiing in the Swiss Alps. The whole world can't go into poverty so you can continue to sit pretty on your pedestal getting your butt powdered! - *end rant

Originally Posted by villagetinker (Post 1258125)

There is a LOT of misinformation being spread (probably on both sides), but I spent almost an hour at a UHC healthcare office getting answers to my 23 or questions. Came out with a much better understanding of what I may or may NOT be giving up by dropping supplemental and going advantage. Next step is to go over this with SHINE, then wait until Oct 1 for the revised books.
BTW, there are THREE (3) insurance plans accepted by TVHS (not including the commercial/government plans), HMO1. HMO2, and PPO, in increasing monthly costs as listed. I have the three books and am just started comparing the plans to the supplemental we currently have.
There is coverage when you travel for emergency care, some coverage if you have a health problem (urgent care) while you are out of network. For those of you that are dual residence, there is the Passport system for 37 states (you need to check to see if you are covered).
While I do not like the way this was handled by TVHS, there are pluses and minuses on both sides. ALL of us need to actually ask the questions that are important to us as individuals, and determine which plan is best. Be very careful of generalizations, as what works very for one may be a disaster for another.
Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 1258190)

Actually, I think her "rant" was an excellent factual counterbalance to the primarily emotional response that has been dominating the threads on this subject. As rants go, I'll give it a 9.8/10

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore2 (Post 1258345)

Don't forget to include that a post may also be one from someone who either has a vested interest in trying to deceive those who are legitimately upset, or has even been given orders to protect the one causing all of this anguish.

Just trying to be fair. :ho:

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 1258386)

Just to point out and discuss another common theme on these threads----that UHC advantage restricts my choices so I cannot go see "the best".



There are 135 pages of participating physicians and just about every hospital in the region their handbook. It should not be all that hard to find a quality specialist. There are some hospitals, such as Shands and Mayo that do not participate. If you are already hooked into that system you have a tough choice



Now for a word about "the best":

Let's pick on cardiology as an example. There are 27,076 cardiologists in the US, 1854 in Florida. Only one can be "the best". But he/she cannot see 330 million patients, so somebody gets "second best", and third best, and so on down to 27,000th "best". There are minimum standards they all have to meet, I think the standard is too low, but I also understand that if the bar is set too high it will affect access to care.



So let's say you are "lucky" enough to get an appointment with "the best" cardiologist in the country. You will probably find that he is a zero personality academic jerk who pawns you off on his assistants as he rushes off to his research lab, or to his office to write his next paper for the NEJM, or to fulfill his teaching responsibilities. So why does he have a practice at all, you may ask:



1) It may be a requirement of his faculty position



2) It is fertile grounds to find new and unusual CASES. Note the word "cases", since in his world, you are not a patient, you are a "case"



3) It is fertile ground for him to find people to sign up for his latest experimental drug or procedure. That now makes you a "guinea pig" instead of a "case"



As far as my own care goes, give me a solid above average caring and personable cardiologist, say number 6 or 7000th on the list. I'll take him over "the best" any day.



I'd be interested if the other retired physicians and nurses agree with this assessment.

Originally Posted by Barefoot (Post 1258730)

BuffaloJim, no worries, I am not offended by your remarks, not at all. It's just without knowing the specifics of a situation, it can't really be explored. No-one I know has experienced the types of situations you described. As far as being denied life-saving cancer treatment, sorry, but I don't believe that. Of course the Canadian Health Care System isn't perfect, but it's free. I've been reading about the angst caused by the recent VHS announcement. It sounds as if choosing a health care plan in the US is enormously complicated!

I've experienced two critical situations in my life. I've been put at the head of the line in Emerg by Triage, and received immediate and awesome treatment. I know a bit about our health-care system first-hand - one situation in 2005 required four months in hospital, where I received the best of care, completely free! But then I've heard people complain bitterly about wait time in Emerg when they've gone there with a cold! Two completely different senarios.

Elective surgeries have longer wait times. You mentioned a friend who took his daughter to the US for eye surgery. It's true that LASIK surgery isn't covered in Canada. But Cataract surgery certainly is!

Here is a situation I personally encountered recently. I returned to Canada from The Villages in May, in need of a knee replacement. I was told by an Orthopedic Surgeon at a small hospital close to my home that he has a Walt list of two years. So I drove for two hours to a Knee/Hip Clinic affiliated with a large Toronto Hospital which is known to have excellent wait times. I was approved for surgery in June and had a knee replacement July 6.

I think with flexibility and persistence, Canada offers excellent free healthcare.

Originally Posted by Barefoot (Post 1258730)

BuffaloJim, no worries, I am not offended by your remarks, not at all. It's just without knowing the specifics of a situation, it can't really be explored. No-one I know has experienced the types of situations you described. As far as being denied life-saving cancer treatment, sorry, but I don't believe that. Of course the Canadian Health Care System isn't perfect, but it's free. I've been reading about the angst caused by the recent VHS announcement. It sounds as if choosing a health care plan in the US is enormously complicated!

I've experienced two critical situations in my life. I've been put at the head of the line in Emerg by Triage, and received immediate and awesome treatment. I know a bit about our health-care system first-hand - one situation in 2005 required four months in hospital, where I received the best of care, completely free! But then I've heard people complain bitterly about wait time in Emerg when they've gone there with a cold! Two completely different senarios.

Elective surgeries have longer wait times. You mentioned a friend who took his daughter to the US for eye surgery. It's true that LASIK surgery isn't covered in Canada. But Cataract surgery certainly is!

Here is a situation I personally encountered recently. I returned to Canada from The Villages in May, in need of a knee replacement. I was told by an Orthopedic Surgeon at a small hospital close to my home that he has a Walt list of two years. So I drove for two hours to a Knee/Hip Clinic affiliated with a large Toronto Hospital which is known to have excellent wait times. I was approved for surgery in June and had a knee replacement July 6.

I think with flexibility and persistence, Canada offers excellent free healthcare.

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 1258750)

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.

Originally Posted by Barefoot (Post 1258730)

BuffaloJim, no worries, I am not offended by your remarks, not at all. It's just without knowing the specifics of a situation, it can't really be explored. No-one I know has experienced the types of situations you described. As far as being denied life-saving cancer treatment, sorry, but I don't believe that. Of course the Canadian Health Care System isn't perfect, but it's free. I've been reading about the angst caused by the recent VHS announcement. It sounds as if choosing a health care plan in the US is enormously complicated!



I've experienced two critical situations in my life. I've been put at the head of the line in Emerg by Triage, and received immediate and awesome treatment. I know a bit about our health-care system first-hand - one situation in 2005 required four months in hospital, where I received the best of care, completely free! But then I've heard people complain bitterly about wait time in Emerg when they've gone there with a cold! Two completely different senarios.



Elective surgeries have longer wait times. You mentioned a friend who took his daughter to the US for eye surgery. It's true that LASIK surgery isn't covered in Canada. But Cataract surgery certainly is!



Here is a situation I personally encountered recently. I returned to Canada from The Villages in May, in need of a knee replacement. I was told by an Orthopedic Surgeon at a small hospital close to my home that he has a Walt list of two years. So I drove for two hours to a Knee/Hip Clinic affiliated with a large Toronto Hospital which is known to have excellent wait times. I was approved for surgery in June and had a knee replacement July 6.



I think with flexibility and persistence, Canada offers excellent free healthcare.