Lack of Customer Service in the USA

[dmccarty]

All these alleged horror stories about mean old insurance companies are simply further reasons why we should take control of our own destiny and quit demanding that someone else provide for us. Unfortunately, for some people it seems to be a reason for more regulations.

AMEN!

We have pretty good health care coverage. But it sure is not perfect.

A few years ago my wife would get sick quite a few times during the year, for awhile it was almost a monthly occurance. Basically she would puke until she got dehydrated and off to the doctors or even the ER for IVs and anti nausua meds. The Dr. prescribe her some meds to help the nausua.

Well one night she started getting sick so she needs the meds. And we are out. So I run to the drug store and the Pharmacist starts filling out the order. She comes back and tells me that the insurance company has denied payment be cause we have filled the prescription too many times in a given period. Their rules are that if we need this much meds we have to buy it from their mail order company. Now this is fine and dandy if you are taking a given drug every month for long periods of time. We are NOT. The wife just happened to be too sick during the given time period.

The Pharmacist is not happy bringing me this news and goes on to tell me that this drug is the most expensive one they stock. To fill the prescription was either $100 or $200.

So the choice is to NOT buy the drug, let my wife get so sick she had to go to the ER or hand over the credit card.

So I paid. The insurance company did not care if we went to the ER since that was from a different bucket of money and not their money.

What we should have done is ordered the meds every month just in case we needed the drug. But we did not since that just drives up everyone's cost.

We need the government to regulate health care insurance like they do with car, life, and house insurance but not MANAGE the insurance. And let ME pick my policy not my employer. Give me the tax break not my company. Then *** I *** can decide which company provides the best price and SERVICE. Right now I don't have a choice. I have to use my company's health care. The insurance companies have no real incentive to provide good SERVICE. They have to hold down costs so they will be picked as a provider again. Service is way down on the priority list.

NC Farm Bureau provides my house, vehicle and tractor insurance. They have my business because they provide GREAT service for a danged good price.

Later,
Dan

 

[Sigarms]

BTW Sigarms- don't know where you got your user name but the company of your namesake has lately managed to earn a horrible customer service reputation. I happen to own two of their products and consider them the best but dang they sure can screw stuff up. Go frequent some of the Sig boards if you aren't aware- I suspect you are though if your user name is a clue. Case in point- awhile back they had a couple of promos that they totally hosed up- a free pocket knife was promised if you bought one of their $800 products like I did. When the knife finally arrived it wasn't the nice one pictured but a cheap piece of dung made in China I wouldn't have paid $2 for, much less the $5 shipping they charged!
They also had a promo where one got "free" gear- I bit on that one too and was sent the wrong size garment, their mistake. Guess who had to pay to ship back their mistake?- yep me.
I like the products they make very much, which is what they should stick to since they have screwed up everything else they try IMO. BTW in addition to my ownership of 2 of their products I have bought two other similar products made by another German company in the same business- around $1100 total and it was partly because of Sigarms screw ups- I neither expected nor received any promo items but the products are great

One reason why you don't run a promotion if the intent of the promotion is not to increase sales of said product.

Personally I think Sig Sauer (before the name change in the U.S market from Sigarms) makes a better weapon than Sigarms

Sort of like Trane and American Standard. However, Trane and American Standard are made at the same facility.

 

[N80]

Bunch of thieves. They don't hesitate to get the money out of my paycheck every two weeks, but they balk quick at paying out. Bunch of thieves.

And the other thing most people don't realize is that this process ties up two or three of my employees all day everyday trying to fight these folks to get my patient on the medicine they need. This increases overhead, which increases my cost to the patient. Its a horrible system.

 

[N80]

Offer the doctor the HMO rate, in cash, right at the time of visit. 4:1 odds he will take it.

When I contract a rate with an HMO or insurer it is considered a 'discount' rate. If I charge that rate to uninsured patients then the HMO is not really securing a discount for its members. Thus, it is against the law for me to charge the same rate. And this is a problem that drives costs up not down.

Plus, to get paid by an insurer is a task that requires multiple employess. So when an HMO pays me 20, its more like getting ten. When an uninsured patient pays me $20 in cash, there's no paperwork or billing issues so $20 in cash is like $30. But my rates are too high for uninsured due to how HMOs and large insurers, paid by employers, have driven costs up.

As one editorial mentioned recently, we don't need fewer uninsured people, we need more! We need a market driven by people paying with cash and cutting the middle man out. Of course this does not work for major illnesses/accidents....that's where we need insurance. Not for colds and backaches.

 

[N80]

And let ME pick my policy not my employer. Give me the tax break not my company.

Bingo!

 

[N80]

I noticed you used the term relativively powerless in your description of the AMA. Do they know that because when I look at this group of web pages I get the impression that they feel they can do a lot to influence legislation.

I don't intend to argue over this, but any organization thats wants your (my) money in order to lobby for my interests is going to make themselves sound powerful. But the AMA is not a powerful lobby. Its just a fact. I'm not even a member and in my medical career I can't think of a single thing they've done for me as a doctor. I'm sure they've impacted occasional legislation but that's usually in conjuntion with many other medical specialty organizations.

So if you wish to have conspiracy theories about large powerful organizations, you'll need to look somewhere else. In addition to having fairly little lobbying power, the AMA has ZERO regulatory authority over physicians. They have nothing to do with licensing, regulation or discipline over physicians. Physicians are not required to be members.

You've taken great pains to show that you have to be in the medical profession to be a member. Why? How does that imply that the AMA isn't a patient advocate? Just because everyone can't join doesn't mean that they only look after the interests of doctors.

I've heard other people spout off about the wicked and powerful AMA. It always gives me a laugh. For many years their membership was waning severely and they'd almost become irrelevant. They remain irrelevant to me.

Now, lets talk about bronchitis and colds. Follow me closely here and a light will go on for you. Everyone needs to read this.

Colds are viral infections. Most lung, ear and sinus infections are too. Antibiotics do NOTHING for viral infections.

A typical viral infection lasts 7-14 days. And no, green snot and mucus does not mean you have a bacterial infections, viruses do it too.

So lets say you get sick. Cough, mucus, maybe even a little wheezing, fever, chills, maybe even some body aches. Maybe nasal congestion and green snot too. This is going to last, in all probability, for 7-10 days. Let's say on day 5 you've had it. You go to the doctor and for whatever reason he/she gives you an antibiotic (maybe you ask for or even demand one). You take it and BAM! Two days later you're better. Wow. Great stuff.

Wrong. It was a virus. It was going to get better in a few days anyway!

Now, six months or a year later you get it again. This time you're not going to wait 5 days in misery. You'll get your antibiotic right away and end the suffering. So on day two you go to the doctor and get an antibiotic. But this time they don't work. Why not? Because you are on day two of a 7-10 viral illness and antibiotics don't work on viruses. But you don't know that so after 4 more days you go back to the doctor and tell him or her that the sorry antibiotic they gave you did not work and you need a stronger one. And he/she/we give you a stronger antibiotic and then 2 days later you're completely better! Why? Because you were on day 8 of a virus and it went away on its own NOT because you took a stronger antibiotic. But you don't know that so now you're convinced that every time you get sick you need an expensive gorilla-cillin to get better.

And each time you take an antibiotic for a viral infection you increase the chances of breeding antibiotic resistant bacteria in your system and the community.

So now you know. And so should your doctor. But in so many cases we cave in and give them to you because you really think you need it and we don't have time to argue with you and don't want to lose your business. Shame on us, we know better. And if we don't cave, you call us quacks and get it from another doctor.

What do I take when I get the cough, runny nose, sinus pain etc etc etc. NOTHING. I give it two weeks and it goes away. It sucks, but that's life.

Now, if you have other medical problems, poor immune system, or you smoke, then that's another story. You might need antibiotics and only your doctor can tell. But if you smoke.....well, you can guess what I think about that. and if you smoke, you have no right to complain about ANY health care system. If you smoke, its your right to do so, but live and die with the consequences like a man.

 

[gemini5362]

Thank you for that response I am actually aware of most of the things you said as far as talking about viral infections. Maybe my doctor was using phrasing that I would understand when she talks about Bronchitis. I do know however that when I was younger and had less money the longer I waited the worse it got. Once I waited about three weeks and was very sick by the time I decided to go see a doctor. Now my doctor prescribes anti biotics and she has to make a bit of a decision on which one to give me because of other medications I take. I dont't demand them but they are her response to the illness. I do not smoke or drink alcohol. But I have noted that my asthma medicines have a warning that they will make me more susceptible to Upper Respitory Infections I dont know if those will be viral or bacterial. I just know it has a warning.


I believe you say the AMA can be an advocate for patient care. They may be but usually when someone is an advocate for a group they have member of that group on their board of directors or in some kind of policy making position.

 

[Skyco]

Personally I think Sig Sauer (before the name change in the U.S market from Sigarms) makes a better weapon than Sigarms

Ditto! Both mine are pre- a P228 I've had 10 years and a P220 bought a few months before the name change. Like I said their screwups in my case cost them immediately a $800 sale that transformed into a $600 sale from one of their competitors and then a $500 sale from the same competitor a few weeks ago, didja guess it was Walther? I like my P99 .40 but I really, really like my PPS*. All over a $2 pocketknife and a vest sizing error.....you gotta wonder how much business they lost due to many others buying competitor products due to stupid mistakes.

*So does the wife- in fact she qualified for her CWP with it...guess I gotta find another one, no easy task, it took me 6 months to find the first one!

 

[gemini5362]

and if you smoke, you have no right to complain about ANY health care system. If you smoke, its your right to do so, but live and die with the consequences like a man.[/QUOTE]

Just thought that I would mention this. They gave women the right to smoke several years ago.

 

[gemini5362]

It is interesting to note the differences in insurance companies. One agent told me years ago that the adjuster is the person that makes all the difference. Even though it might be the same company the way the adjuster handles the claim will be what you have to deal with.


I just had an interesting chat with my insurance companies. I have an independent agent depending on who was doing what as I bought my rental houses he has me in three different insurance companies. We had a very large hail storm here in late april. One of the worst we have ever had and there have been a LOTTTT of roofing done. One of my houses was damaged so I called my agent and he turned in the claim and said they would be contacting me later that day or the next. Three weeks later I got a letter from the insurance agency telling me who my adjuster was and that he would be contacting me. Two weeks later he called and set up an apointment with me to view the house. This is an insurance company with a good track record that is actually my agents first choice of insurance companies. Compare the above experience with another insurance company that i deal on only 1 rental house with. But my homeowner and car policies are with them. Two days after the storm they call me up and tell me that they have noticed that we have had some very severe weather in my area and that they realize I am a client in that area. First thing they asked was if anyone was injured in the storms. I told them no that everyone was fine. Next they asked me if I had any damage that I needed to file a claim on. I told them I was not sure about the one rental house I was still trying to get over to check it out. They told me they had my policy numbers for me so that I would not have to look them up and gave me their 24/7 phone number for filing a claim. I did not have any damage with anything they cover but I was impressed that they called me ready to file a claim and get what they needed to do started versus the other company that took a long time to respond to a filed claim. I am in the process now of moving all my insurances to one company. Guess which one that will be.