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Bad Positiion to Put You Into
Stardust
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 05:30 PM -
Untitled Comment
none
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 05:43 PMThat doc sounds like a real jerk to me. He knows how dangerous it is to stop taking Lamictal cold turkey and if it's helping you even after 2 weeks you shouldn't have to stop it because of your insurance. He already saw you and gave you the prescription so he should give you enough to hold you over. Heck, if you still had the insurance he would have continued to give it to you right? Insurance issues are the pits.
Call your new insurance and ask for a list of pdocs. Then call one of them and explain the situation to them. They maybe able to get you in right away due to the circumstances. I would make sure when you do get into a new one you tell them exactly what happened. What he did was not right at all.
replyre: Untitled Comment
kpmcinto
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 05:57 PMThe thing is he was really great at first.....maybe HE needs medication because he went totally Mr. Hyde on me.
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none
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 07:49 PMI agree. And even if he didn't consider you his patient once the insurance ran out, he still treated you up till then, knew what could happen if you stopped the meds, and could have called in a prescription for you. It's not like you were someone he never met and were trying to get meds off of for the first time. He treated you, knew the meds he was giving you, and was willing to be your doctor except for the insurance getting messed up. I stand my ground saying he should have still called in a script. Insurance or no insurance, he could have called it in.
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kpmcinto
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 11:31 PMYes...he really could have. It's a shame we have to go through this when having this illness is hard enough. These Dr's KNOW this! That's it! I'm calling Oprah!!!! No...seriously...I'm over it. I'm just going to call my PCP in the mean time. I'm just disgusted at this point.
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Sounds like you're better rid of him.
Hopeful mom
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 06:15 PMI can't even imagine a doctor being that way. Have you asked your pcp to do it for you? That's what we did while waiting for our appointment. I told her when the appointment was and what he was taking and she gave us samples
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Harsh reality
tabby
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 06:37 PMHe didn't give you a script to hold you till you found a new pdoc because once your insurance ended, and you weren't able or willing to pay him 100% out of pocket, you were no longer his patient and no longer his medical concern. Harsh but reality.
It could take you 6-8 weeks to find a new one and he'd be strapped into "looking" after you for that long while you aren't his patient any longer. This way, he isn't liable for you cause you aren't his patient. He has turned you over to whomever you find.
The suggestion of getting with your family dr. and asking for the med to cover the time - isn't a bad idea.
replyre: Harsh reality
kpmcinto
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 07:02 PMActually I did offer to pay out of pocket. Maybe he got burned in the past doing that.
replyre: re: Harsh reality
tabby
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 06:57 AMIf he was in "private practice" then yeah - he got burned several times
Folks don't get that the ones in "private practice" aren't getting a paycheck from a large corporation or group. Their paycheck, which pays their mortgage, their car, their electricity, their groceries, not to mention the overhead on their office (lights, rent, etc...), and their personal insurance as well as medical liability insurance - ALL COMES FROM PATIENT PAYMENTS and insurance payments.
If you don't pay or the insurance doesn't pay then basically he/she has done the work and didn't get paid. He/she then eventually has to raise their rates to compensate for those who said they would pay something and didn't.
Some professionals are generous in allowing some of their more crisis prone patients to pay smaller amounts until they get back on their feet - but that is up to the provider to decide.
You may have all the intention in the world to pay him what his rate is but he has probably heard that one too many times - and yes, got burned.
replyre: Harsh reality
Eric
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 06:49 AMTabby is 100% right. A pdoc can’t just cut you loose and say he doesn’t want you as a patient anymore without being under someone else’s care unless it is done on your end. Your insurance ran out and even if you offer to self-pay he has the right to refuse treatment. You can cut the ties at anytime…they can’t. In the meantime I would do as tabby suggested with getting the scripts from your gp to hold you over and get a referral to a pdoc that does accept self-pay.
In our area it's more like 6 to 8 months before you can be seen by a pdoc unless you are hospitalized and with that they have to see you within 4 business days of release.
Some have actually used a hospital stay just to get in with a pdoc. Sad but true….hint hint
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Lost insurance is what's wrong
tls
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 11:54 AMI lost my insurance at the end of November so I went the month of December without insurance. In the mean time my PCP gave me samples of everything he could and I paid out of pocket for the ones he couldn't - granted I didn't pay the electric or cable bill for December but I thought my health was a little more important.
I get very angry when a person in trouble cries out for help and everyone turns away because you don't have the almighty insurance card.
I must say the county mental health agency has been great - I went in and told them I didn't have insurance and no income and they said thank you just tell us when you do. BUT...I was hospitalized first and referred by the hospital for follow-up care.
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Untitled Comment
24hbipolar2
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 12:50 PMokay, i have to jump in. When you lose your insurance or it changes, the doctor can no longer provide your care because he is doing no longer your doctor, not because he is doing it for free. Psychiatrists are some of the lowest paid docs around. He cannot give you a script to "tide you over" because you are no longer his patient. That would be the same as handing out scripts on the street. He can't help that you lost your insurance. he can help you look for a new dotor but that's it. The meds we take have significant side effects and if you just had the drug without the MD, you are setting yourself up for a fall. It sucks all around... for everyone..the doc just loses 1/4 of his patients because the insurance company has pulled out of his office and that means everyone pays more for their visit...if they have a co-pay. If he takes your insurance, he has NO SAY in how much he will get paid for each visit. The insurance company tells him how much he will get and most insurance companies forbid balance billing...so if he charges $100 for a visit and the insurance company pays him $25, that is all he gets. I am tired of the references to pdocs being mean, not listening, not able to get drug regimens right. Your psychiatrist has no other motive than to help you get better. If a doc wanted money, he wouldn't be in the medical field, unless he's a cardiac surgeon. He knows the drugs and the combos, but not how they wil react in your body. It's a team approach with you...you are to take responsibility for your part..taking meds. healthy lifestyle, etc., and he does his part...tries to get you on an effective and well-tolerated regimen. It is not us against them. And psychiatrist are, finally, people, real people, who have good days and bad days, preoccupied days and totally with it days. i just hope I'm hitting a good day on my visit. I've seen him when he is pre-occupied with something else and it's not a satisfying visit, but it was a visit. It is my responsibility to speak up if i don't get what i need from my pdoc, not his to anticipate my wants and needs at any given appointment. Sorry to rant and rave. Too close to the problem to remain unbiased.
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Untitled Comment
kpmcinto
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 04:16 PMThank you for opinion, HOWEVER, I am an educated person and I know how the health care system works. There are doctors out there that are willing to work wih you...they don't HAVE to but they still go that extra mile. That is what kindness, and empathy is all about. This ,my dear, is what separates good Dr's from the great ones.
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The Miracle is Just About to Happen
uswalker
Saturday, February 02, 2008 at 12:26 PMIs there anyone who cares? God can I relate to that feeling, the intense loneliness that only someone suffering from this illness could possibly understand. The dpths of hell. I understand. I care.
I have been on Lamictol for about 12 mos. It took time, for me, looking back on my daily mood chart that I filled in religiously. It wasn't that long, before I noticed something strange happened - after a few months, I stopped doing the mood chart, because my mood didn't hardly change - day to day! If you knew me, you would know that IS a miracle.
I never believed that life could feel the way it does. Hell, I never knew what feeling felt like. I do now and I am so grateful.
Please hang in there. Hold on to that one more grain of hope. Reach out, don't stop talking or trying - you are so worth the fight. Don't let the demons win. You can beat this! If I am, one day at a time, anyone can.
I have gotten great relief from Lamcitol for depression, yet have been on a roller coaster with over 6 drugs over the past year for the manic. I am, finally properly diagnosed with BP II. I will NEVER give up now that I KNOW it's possible to feel good. Finally, I believe in my doc. I will find the right combination.
A friend of mine that passed away from cancer, someone that was truly exxceptional used to say something that gave me comfort and permission on those bad days ... she said, "Some days, it's OK to just stand there, and hurt."
God bless us all - we are soooo worth the fight.
Louie R. (uswalker)
http://rochonsculpture.artspan.com/mbr_bio.php
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