I’m really losing my patience with my patients.
They DRIVE to the office, come in using a CELL PHONE, wearing designer jeans, nice clothing, an expensive hand bag, nice shoes, and very nice make up(mostly just the women) and then say they “can’t afford” to pay out of pocket for an exam or glasses THEIR ‘insurance’ (usually medicaid) doesn’t cover.
Only in America…
Gosh, reading your posts lately make me think that maybe you should consider a change of careers…It is fairly apparent that you are not happy…I am sure with all your education you should be able to find something more fulfilling…being unhappy at work tends to make one unhappy everywhere…just a suggestion…I would hate to be stuck at a job that irritates me as much as yours does…
i dont know who’s crankier, the doctor or the patient!
BBW
It always struck me odd what some folks decide is worth spending ‘their money’ on and what isn’t. You can’t change them. Just try not to let it get you down. (and I know, easier said than done !)
51BC
I hear ya BBW! My wife works in the medical field and deals with the same stuff! She comes home with some serious stories much like what you are eluding too. Surprising number of folks on medicaid that drive an Escalade too. Unreal…
They sure don’t have a problem spending my (government give away, taxes) money though.
fishbum
Ive yet to figure out why this thread topic even exists? It sure doesnt have anything to do with fly fishing or fly tieing AT ALL.
If people want someone to BI**H to call X-2323 which is dial-a-prayer!
it doesnt have to!
“Gripes and Grumbles, Hurrahs and atta-boys! Give your input on products you have tried, companies you have dealt with; a place to ask about a Company or product and get input from folks who have used it. All opinions are just that, take them or leave them. NO WAR, POLITICS, RELIGION, OR FLAMING!”
Then what IS the true purpose of this thread topic then?
Yes, you do sound unhappy these days!
I’m a bit unhappy myself… mainly because I just got back this afternoon from having a root canal done ($875), and tomorrow morning I have to schedule getting the tooth crowned (another $900). This is after I paid $600 just 3 weeks ago for my dentist to do a filling on the same tooth, which apparently aggravated the nerve/root, or whatever.
And I don’t have any dental insurance!!!
Anyway, your post got me to thinking that maybe I can get some of this Medicaid stuff, to go with my “designer” Wrangler jeans, of course, and the make-up I’m wearing today (to cover up my swollen jaw from the root canal).
So, I go to the Pennsylvania State Medicaid Assistance website to see what, if any assistance I might be qualified for. (Of course I have to have a computer to do this, but I don’t have to tell them about the new $3,000 laptop I just got as a Christmas present).
They’re mainly interested in my resources (such as my now depleted bank account after I paid the dentist) and my income levels, to qualify for the various Gummitt assistance programs.
I can own one vehicle without negatively impacting my elegibility, and I assume my wife can own another one also, which she does. Both our vehicles are new, but they don’t ask for make, model year, etc. so I don’t tell them.
They ask how much rent I pay, and I tell them that I pay approximately $2,000 per month, which is the honest truth. They don’t seem interested to know that this rent is for the winter months that my wife and I spend for our condo soaking up the sun on south Florida beaches.
I tell them my total monthly pension and social security income, and the fact that I’ve already got medical insurance (which I’m able to purchase from my former employer - but they don’t seem to care where I got it and how much it costs).
When I provide all the info they ask for, they imediately tell me that both my wife and I qualify for medical assistance! EUREKA!!!
With that knowledge in hand, I’ll just have to see if I can get them to pay the cost of my next eye exam, and that new pair of Smith Optics polarized sunglasses I’ve been yearning for. They’re real Glare Killers in South Florida, and I’m thinking the tortoise frame would look nice with that European handbag (another Christmas gift, understand).
John
To gripe and grumble. 
Everyone is entitled once in a while.
If you can’t whine to your friends, who can you whine to?
It would bother me, too.
Products, companies, company, product…input in that regard?
OK.lets go with that concept…but personally…the fact you cant get to the airport to fly to West Bullethole Montana for Xmas because you had a flat tire…or your aunt Matilda had too much to drink and fell down the steps has anything to do with fly fishing…and if you read the header its called F.A.O.L. and not “a place to complain.com”
I’ll second that! Toss in maybe “Bum fishing guides I have known” and you have a winner…
There you go! That’s the idea!
And we keep all the whining in one spot, or at least we are supposed to. The rest of the board is dedicated to fly fishing. This forum is dedicated to being human.
Now I’m going to the VFW, cook some burgers for “Burger Night” and drink too much and fall down the steps.
Now I’m going to the VFW, cook some burgers for “Burger Night” and drink too much and fall down the steps.[/QUOTE]
Commendable, but please don’t fall down the steps!
Well, I know that some of y’all are fortunate enough never to have seriously fallen on honest-to-god tough times, and that’s fantastic. So let me try to explain a few things to you about Medicaid…which I only got while waiting for Medicare and then VA healthcare to kick in when I became totally disabled. It was less than a year.
First of all, Medicaid is administered by the STATE, so it varies widely depending on where you live. But the fundamentals are the same everywhere.
Medicaid is a federal program administered by the states that is designed to provide temporary health coverage for people living at or below the poverty level (which varies widely and is set by county). Qualifying income is based on a short-term calculation of taxable income and tangible and liquid assets. When I applied, they only wanted to know how much I and my wife had earned in the previous 2 months. And the benefits were only good for 3 months. They take a basic income vs. expenses statement, exempt one automobile for each working member of the household, and see what you have left as disposable income.
First, your income has to be low enough to hit that poverty level. Second, you have to be in such a tight bind that you can’t afford insurance…or have been diagnosed with a medical condition on a list that they know will prevent you getting insurance. Then, whatever you do have left over as disposable income goes to what is called your “Medicaid spend-down.” It’s your monthly deductible. That’s how it is supposed to work…basically. There are all sorts of if’s, and’s, and but’s just like with any gov’t program, including income taxes and constitutional law. Somehow, in our case we weren’t even able to pay all of our actual bills with me not working, none of my medical expenses, and they said we still had an $1800/mo “spend-down.” (at the time the brand new, young, Republican Governor of MO had just cut over 1 million disabled people off the Medicaid rolls to balance the state budget). Funny thing was my medical expenses were running about $1500/mo. Luckily, my docs were working for free and the pharm co’s were giving me free drugs because they charge y’all so much for them they can afford to do that…until we could figure out how to get all this paid for.
Anyway, my point is quite simple: a patient could easily show up well-dressed and driving an Escalade or Mercedes, talking on their cell phone (trying to find a new job or talking to the babysitter), without a penny in their Gucci purse, 2 months behind on their $500k mortgage and pay with a Medicaid card because their husband lost his job or was hurt at work and his company is withholding his disability benefits…or because he was crippled recently in a car accident.
Furthermore, there are legitimate sources of income that are NOT taxable. Thus, they don’t have to be reported when applying for things like Medicaid/Medicare, don’t impact Social Security payments, etc. You know, things like dividends on stocks, annuity payments, payments from reverse mortgages, etc. So all the older folks who are sucking up all those gubmint handouts when they could actually afford to pay their own way are actually not cheating when they take advantage of these things. Being selfish? Yes. Being dishonest? No. They’re just taking full advantage of the rules we live by - much like the doctor who writes off all of his business expenses…including that medical conference in Las Vegas or perhaps Grand Cayman so that he doesn’t have to pay more income tax. Ever notice they don’t have many of those in Detroit, MI or Birmingham, AL?
Is there a fair amount of fraud going on? Sure. A lot of it is being perpetrated by doctors. Are there a bunch of scam artists on the public dole? You betcha! But just like I don’t allow myself to become jaded against all doctors just because I hear or read another story about some healthcare provider getting nabbed for millions in medicaid/medicare fraud every week, perhaps y’all shouldn’t get so jaded about people using public entitlement programs just based on outward appearances.
The year I became disabled, my wife and I both made six figures. We lost our insurance and 2/3 of our income overnight. We drove nice cars and owned a mortgage on a fairly new home. I owned a boat and 2 very expensive hunting dogs, too. I had a pretty impressive gun collection. And we had some money in the bank. That was January. By the end of that year, we had 1 car, I sold my pride-and-joy dog, sold the boat and the guns, kept only 2 fly rods, and the only thing left in the bank was a foreclosure notice on our house. But if I had walked into your office for medical help during that year, I would likely have showed up in Eddie Bauer Expedition wearing nice clothes and paid you with a Medicaid card.
I was totally disabled in the line of duty 10 years prior while conducting a counter-terrorist operation for this country, but my injuries didn’t put me down for the count until another decade had passed. Given the type of injuries, this is not all that uncommon but most people (myself included) don’t know it happens that way. Would you have felt about me then the way you want to feel about disabled combat vets, BBW? Or would your blood pressure have risen when you saw me drive away in a $35k truck after paying your bill with a Medicaid card? Just food for thought. I know my own experiences sure changed my attitude about a lot of things!
Thanks flyguy!!
Very informative and well stated. Sure makes you think!
Bob
flyguy66: OTHER THAN the OP…I dont see anyone “complaining” about Medicare / Medicaid. My question and that of several others is WHY is that topic even brought up here on a FLY fishing BB?
As was noted by some others this particular forum / thread was for “complaining” about bad equipment or even fishing guides…etc…etc ( key note here is FISHING) and not that your not getting the milage you thought you should be getting from your Firestones!..
I don’t know about you, Sully, but my tires are very directly related to fly fishing. I couldn’t do any without them. :lol: