Medical, Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA)

Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA)

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Daniel Prin #1 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) Is there ANY way I can get adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (California's version of Medicaid)? I am totally disabled and so my only income is SSI ($650.40 per month) and my only medical insurance is Medi-Cal. About five years ago I switched from regular Medi-Cal to the Cigna HMO because VERY few doctors accepted Medi-Cal and Medi-Cal pays for VERY few tests, procedures, and prescriptions. I didn't get very good care from Cigna but it was better than I got from the Medi-Cal doctors. About two years ago Cigna sold the HMO to Friendly Hills and the quality of care got MUCH worse. About six months ago I switched from Friendly Hills to a doctor in the Foundation Health Medi-Cal managed health plan. After two months it was obvious that he couldn't help me so I switched to another doctor in the same plan. It doesn't look as if this doctor will help me at all either so I don't know what to do. I think all doctors in the managed health plans under Medi-Cal are paid a small fixed fee for each patient so they don't want to do much. It wouldn't surprise me if they have financial incentives from the health plan so that the less they do, the more money they make. Every so often I get list of doctors recommended to me. I call ALL of them and NONE of them take Medi-Cal or any of the Managed health care plans available under Medi-Cal. Foundation Health won't give me any information about their doctors except their office address, phone number and if they are Family Practitioners or Internists. I called Medi-Cal and they couldn't give me a list of doctors in Los Angeles county that take Medi-Cal. What should I do? Should I keep going to doctor, after doctor, after doctor, in the managed health plans, switch back to regular Medi-Cal, or just give up on trying to get adequate health care? If I go back to regular Medi-Cal how can I find a good doctor who takes Medi-Cal? Should I spend thousands and thousands of hours calling every doctor in the telephone book? Is there any way I can get a list of all the doctors in Los Angeles and Orange counties that take new Medi-Cal patients? If I could get such a list, it would save me a great deal of time because I think less than five percent of all doctors in California take Medi-Cal. If it is not too much trouble, please send e-mail as well as answering in the newsgroup. My news feed is not always that reliable (I often see replies to messages I never see). I am sometimes too ill to check my newsgroups for several days. Thank you in advance for all replies. -- I have figured out why cats often run around like they are crazy. It is because they are crazy.
Sun, 10 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

Andrew Chun #2 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) Quote: > <snip> > Every so often I get list of doctors recommended to me. I call ALL of > them and NONE of them take Medi-Cal or any of the Managed health care > plans available under Medi-Cal. Foundation Health won't give me any > information about their doctors except their office address, phone > number and if they are Family Practitioners or Internists. I called > Medi-Cal and they couldn't give me a list of doctors in Los Angeles > county that take Medi-Cal. > What should I do? Should I keep going to doctor, after doctor, after > doctor, in the managed health plans, switch back to regular Medi-Cal, > or just give up on trying to get adequate health care? Other states are not far behind California. This is what the American healthcare system is de-evolving into. HMOs were born in California and this is how they run things if you let them take complete control in your state. All concerned patients (we all become patients requiring physician care at some point in our lives especially as we grow older) should contact their local, state, and federal representatives to keep this tragedy from becoming commonplace. Meanwhile, physicians can do their part by helping patients who are not getting adequate health care pro bono so that patients don't die before their voices are heard. This may be most cost effectively done over the Internet by educating patients about their condition and about appropriate diagnostic tests that should be done. Armed with this knowledge, patients should become better able to secure more adequate medical care from a reluctant managed (ie capitated) health care provider (who is exposed to civil liability for providing less than the standard level of healthcare). Daniel, you need to complain and make the difficulties that you are having known to your friends and neighbors. I suspect that many in your area are in the same boat. There is strength in collective numbers. And collective stories can be powerful media fodder to effect change. May God be with you. -- For answers to similar sci.med/cardiology FAQs, see my webpages. --- Andrew Chung Homepage (with answers to sci.med FAQs) at: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~achung Mirrored at: http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/MED/HTN/~achung/
Sun, 10 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

Mel Smit #3 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) : Daniel, you need to complain and make the difficulties that you are : having known to your friends and neighbors. I suspect that many in your : area are in the same boat. There is strength in collective numbers. : And collective stories can be powerful media fodder to effect change. : May God be with you. ...... Or move to Canada where our HealthCare system is not run by insurance companies and flacks and where all health care is paid for by a family's $68/month premium to their respective provincial government. The provincial medical associations negotiate each year for the following year's fees (typically, a simple visit to a Family Physician is approx $21.56). Everyone pays a bit more in provincial taxes (and of course the medicare premium (No, OUR medicare is for ALL ages - not just for seniors) of $ 204 every three months) We hear all sorts of pejorative comments about 'socialized medicine' and immense waiting lists. That's a bunch of bullshit !! Anyone who needs a serious and significant operation (say , heart/ lung transplant) does go on a list, and the list is currently approx two-three months long -- and our Alberta Government is trying to shorten that too. For normal medicine, I go to my doctor's office and wait maybe 3 to 4 minutes to see the doctor (sometimes I get in immediately). I pay nothing, fill out nothing, and leave. In two weeks the doctor gets his $21.56 deposited electronically in his back account. A team of 15 doctors needs only ONE billing clerk to handle ALL the billing for the clinic. I live during the winter in Arizona, and see full-page business adverti{filter}ts to join HMOs. They seem like raucous Used-Car ads to me !! How gross !! By the way, I'm not a 'whacked-out' liberal pinko, but am a small businessman who believes in free enterprise EXCEPT when my {filter}is involved. I believe we should ALL share the costs of proper healthcare without the rich skipping to the head of the line for service. In Canada, we tell people who are well-to-do, and want to push by everyone else to the top of the line -- to go to the U.S.A., and buy the healthcare they want. My wife broke her ankle outside of our home in Arizona in Apr 1992. One day in the hospital (Valley Lutheran - Mesa, Az) and it cost $10006.08 This was a no-complications busted ankle where she went in on a Saturday morning, and was released at 5:00pm the next afternoon. Thank God, I bought extra out-of-country insurance. BTW, indigent people don't even have to pay the $204/qtr for the same healthcare I get. They get it free. -end-of-diatribe- -Mel ps. O.K., let the 'he said - they said' battles begin -- Mel Smith (in the Valley of the Sun)
Sun, 10 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

dufq.. #4 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) Quote: > : Daniel, you need to complain and make the difficulties that you are > : having known to your friends and neighbors. I suspect that many in your > : area are in the same boat. There is strength in collective numbers. > : And collective stories can be powerful media fodder to effect change. > : May God be with you. > ...... Or move to Canada where our HealthCare system is not run > by insurance companies and flacks and where all health care is paid > for by a family's $68/month premium to their respective provincial > government. The provincial medical associations negotiate each year > for the following year's fees (typically, a simple visit to a Family > Physician is approx $21.56). Everyone pays a bit more in provincial > taxes (and of course the medicare premium (No, OUR medicare is for > ALL ages - not just for seniors) of $ 204 every three months) > We hear all sorts of pejorative comments about 'socialized > medicine' and immense waiting lists. That's a bunch of bullshit !! > Anyone who needs a serious and significant operation (say , heart/ > lung transplant) does go on a list, and the list is currently approx > two-three months long -- and our Alberta Government is trying to > shorten that too. For normal medicine, I go to my doctor's office > and wait maybe 3 to 4 minutes to see the doctor (sometimes I get in > immediately). I pay nothing, fill out nothing, and leave. In two > weeks the doctor gets his $21.56 deposited electronically in his > back account. A team of 15 doctors needs only ONE billing clerk to > handle ALL the billing for the clinic. > I live during the winter in Arizona, and see full-page business > adverti{filter}ts to join HMOs. They seem like raucous Used-Car ads to > me !! How gross !! > By the way, I'm not a 'whacked-out' liberal pinko, but am a > small businessman who believes in free enterprise EXCEPT when my > {filter}is involved. I believe we should ALL share the costs of proper > healthcare without the rich skipping to the head of the line for > service. > In Canada, we tell people who are well-to-do, and want to > push by everyone else to the top of the line -- to go to the U.S.A., > and buy the healthcare they want. > My wife broke her ankle outside of our home in Arizona in Apr > 1992. One day in the hospital (Valley Lutheran - Mesa, Az) and it cost > $10006.08 This was a no-complications busted ankle where she went in > on a Saturday morning, and was released at 5:00pm the next afternoon. > Thank God, I bought extra out-of-country insurance. > BTW, indigent people don't even have to pay the $204/qtr for the > same healthcare I get. They get it free. > -end-of-diatribe- > -Mel > ps. O.K., let the 'he said - they said' battles begin > -- > Mel Smith (in the Valley of the Sun) i live on the us/canada border and our (US) hospitals are full of Canadians who needed medical service and couldn't wait for the socialized medical system to take care of them. maybe this is also why canadian taxes are as high as they are and the canadian dollar is as weak as it is. the canadian doctors are not receiving fair renumeration for their talents and this doesn't promote a healthy attitude among them. by the way, i am not in any form of the medical field but am just forwarding my observations. now if we could just bring some common sense to the litigation hungry, vastly overpaid, legal system we would all (except lawyers) be better off.
Sun, 10 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

Kurt Ullm #5 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) Quote: > ...... Or move to Canada where our HealthCare system is not run >by insurance companies and flacks and where all health care is paid >for by a family's $68/month premium to their respective provincial >government. The provincial medical associations negotiate each year >for the following year's fees (typically, a simple visit to a Family >Physician is approx $21.56). Everyone pays a bit more in provincial >taxes (and of course the medicare premium (No, OUR medicare is for >ALL ages - not just for seniors) of $ 204 every three months) And it is going bankrupt because the Feds are pulling out since it has become so dog gone expensive. I would like to, while I am here, like to compliment you on your forthrightness (is that a word??) for at least not trying to convince us it is free. BTW: Canada is seemingly the poster country for the concept that you can only squeeze waste out once. Then inflation and population increases will eventually put you back where you were. Quote: > By the way, I'm not a 'whacked-out' liberal pinko, but am a >small businessman who believes in free enterprise EXCEPT when my >{filter}is involved. I believe we should ALL share the costs of proper >healthcare without the rich skipping to the head of the line for >service. Like that doesn't happen in Canada. So, you don't want someone to be able to spend their own money to get better care (ala the Brits for instance). Sounds sorta like red to me(g) Quote: > In Canada, we tell people who are well-to-do, and want to >push by everyone else to the top of the line -- to go to the U.S.A., >and buy the healthcare they want. This is why the Canadian system ain't broken down entirely yet. The US system works as a release valve so that some of the pent up demand can get away. ------------------------------------------- Army Liason to the Office of Naval Contemplation
Sun, 10 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

Pamela Gro #6 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) Quote: >Is there ANY way I can get adequate medical care with Medi-Cal >(California's version of Medicaid)? I am totally disabled and so my >only income is SSI ($650.40 per month) and my only medical insurance >is Medi-Cal. >About five years ago I switched from regular Medi-Cal to the Cigna HMO >because VERY few doctors accepted Medi-Cal and Medi-Cal pays for VERY >few tests, procedures, and prescriptions. I didn't get very good care >from Cigna but it was better than I got from the Medi-Cal doctors. >About two years ago Cigna sold the HMO to Friendly Hills and the >quality of care got MUCH worse. >About six months ago I switched from Friendly Hills to a doctor in the >Foundation Health Medi-Cal managed health plan. After two months it >was obvious that he couldn't help me so I switched to another doctor >in the same plan. >It doesn't look as if this doctor will help me at all either so I >don't know what to do. I think all doctors in the managed health >plans under Medi-Cal are paid a small fixed fee for each patient so >they don't want to do much. It wouldn't surprise me if they have >financial incentives from the health plan so that the less they do, >the more money they make. >Every so often I get list of doctors recommended to me. I call ALL of >them and NONE of them take Medi-Cal or any of the Managed health care >plans available under Medi-Cal. Foundation Health won't give me any >information about their doctors except their office address, phone >number and if they are Family Practitioners or Internists. I called >Medi-Cal and they couldn't give me a list of doctors in Los Angeles >county that take Medi-Cal. >What should I do? Should I keep going to doctor, after doctor, after >doctor, in the managed health plans, switch back to regular Medi-Cal, >or just give up on trying to get adequate health care? >If I go back to regular Medi-Cal how can I find a good doctor who >takes Medi-Cal? Should I spend thousands and thousands of hours >calling every doctor in the telephone book? Is there any way I can >get a list of all the doctors in Los Angeles and Orange counties that >take new Medi-Cal patients? If I could get such a list, it would save >me a great deal of time because I think less than five percent of all >doctors in California take Medi-Cal. >If it is not too much trouble, please send e-mail as well as answering >in the newsgroup. My news feed is not always that reliable (I often >see replies to messages I never see). I am sometimes too ill to check >my newsgroups for several days. Thank you in advance for all replies. Medi-Cal is not an easy thing to deal with; I know because I am stuck on it as well. With lupus, no one will insure me. But in the LA area the lack of funding in relation to the need is so appalling that I can understand why you are having problems. Unfortunately, California is switching to some form of managed care for Medi-Cal in every county. But what I hear from LA county is worse than the rest. I wish I had better suggestions to offer you. I can let you know that this is a real problem and you have been unfairly treated by a heartless system. Some suggestions would be: 1) find a support group, private foundation, or other resource for your disabling condition. I am not in a dream world and don't expect they would be of any financial help. But often leaders of such groups (I am one so I know) will know who the good docs are and which ones will take a Medi-Cal patient under certain conditions. If you were a lupus patient I could tell you who to go to right now! 2) You may want to write a polite letter to your state government representatives. In California you have an Assemblyperson and a State Senator. I can't tell you who they are because your area has district lines that are hard to read even from a map! Your local library, League of Women's Voters, or newspaper office may be able to tell you. If not, check on my rheumatic disease Web site periodically--there are a lot of advocacy resources on there now, but one of the things I'm going to post as soon as I find it again is the number in Sacramento you can call to find out who your reps are. These are the people who make the decisions that allow our state dept. of health to function as they do, and if you've got even one nice rep they may at least be able to go to bat for you as far as obtaining a list. 3) Take the gubernatorial campaign very seriously. A governor with no compassion for the disabled or chronically ill is a recipe for Medi-Cal disaster. 4) When you have time, use our Web site or other resource to keep in touch with Action Alerts which will tell you what to do if you are interested in helping to change the system. 5) Keep asking people and eventually one of the recommendations might be one in one of the plans. Best of luck, Pam -- Save the Net! http://www.cauce.org/ Psst! Have a personal or professional interest in lupus, fibromyalgia, or other rheumatic diseases? UPDATED site http://www.silcom.com/~sblc/
Mon, 11 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

Pamela Gro #7 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) Quote: >: Daniel, you need to complain and make the difficulties that you are >: having known to your friends and neighbors. I suspect that many in your >: area are in the same boat. There is strength in collective numbers. >: And collective stories can be powerful media fodder to effect change. >: May God be with you. > ...... Or move to Canada where our HealthCare system is not run >by insurance companies and flacks and where all health care is paid >for by a family's $68/month premium to their respective provincial >government. The provincial medical associations negotiate each year >for the following year's fees (typically, a simple visit to a Family >Physician is approx $21.56). Everyone pays a bit more in provincial >taxes (and of course the medicare premium (No, OUR medicare is for >ALL ages - not just for seniors) of $ 204 every three months) > We hear all sorts of pejorative comments about 'socialized >medicine' and immense waiting lists. That's a bunch of bullshit !! >Anyone who needs a serious and significant operation (say , heart/ >lung transplant) does go on a list, and the list is currently approx >two-three months long -- and our Alberta Government is trying to >shorten that too. For normal medicine, I go to my doctor's office >and wait maybe 3 to 4 minutes to see the doctor (sometimes I get in >immediately). I pay nothing, fill out nothing, and leave. In two >weeks the doctor gets his $21.56 deposited electronically in his >back account. A team of 15 doctors needs only ONE billing clerk to >handle ALL the billing for the clinic. > I live during the winter in Arizona, and see full-page business >adverti{filter}ts to join HMOs. They seem like raucous Used-Car ads to >me !! How gross !! > By the way, I'm not a 'whacked-out' liberal pinko, but am a >small businessman who believes in free enterprise EXCEPT when my >{filter}is involved. I believe we should ALL share the costs of proper >healthcare without the rich skipping to the head of the line for >service. > In Canada, we tell people who are well-to-do, and want to >push by everyone else to the top of the line -- to go to the U.S.A., >and buy the healthcare they want. > My wife broke her ankle outside of our home in Arizona in Apr >1992. One day in the hospital (Valley Lutheran - Mesa, Az) and it cost >$10006.08 This was a no-complications busted ankle where she went in >on a Saturday morning, and was released at 5:00pm the next afternoon. >Thank God, I bought extra out-of-country insurance. >BTW, indigent people don't even have to pay the $204/qtr for the > same healthcare I get. They get it free. >-end-of-diatribe- >-Mel >ps. O.K., let the 'he said - they said' battles begin I would gladly do this. I've been told Canada won't take me; my chronic illness is too expensive. -- Save the Net! http://www.*.com/ Psst! Have a personal or professional interest in lupus, fibromyalgia, or other rheumatic diseases? UPDATED site http://www.*.com/ ~sblc/
Mon, 11 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

J. Robert Hobgoo #8 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) It is good to hear that the medical system in Canada is focused upon medicine and is not overrun with politics.
Mon, 11 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

Andrew Chun #9 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) Quote: > : Daniel, you need to complain and make the difficulties that you are > : having known to your friends and neighbors. I suspect that many in > your > : area are in the same boat. There is strength in collective numbers. > : And collective stories can be powerful media fodder to effect > change. > : May God be with you. > ...... Or move to Canada where our HealthCare system is not > run > by insurance companies and flacks and where all health care is paid > for by a family's $68/month premium to their respective provincial > government. The provincial medical associations negotiate each year > for the following year's fees (typically, a simple visit to a Family > Physician is approx $21.56). Everyone pays a bit more in provincial > taxes (and of course the medicare premium (No, OUR medicare is for > ALL ages - not just for seniors) of $ 204 every three months) > <snip> Your solution is not to address the problem but run away from it. -- For answers to similar sci.med/cardiology FAQs, see my webpages. --- Andrew Chung Homepage (with answers to sci.med FAQs) at: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~achung Mirrored at: http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/MED/HTN/~achung/
Mon, 11 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

Andrew Chun #10 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) Quote: > > ...... Or move to Canada where our HealthCare system is not > run > >by insurance companies and flacks and where all health care is paid > >for by a family's $68/month premium to their respective provincial > >government. The provincial medical associations negotiate each year > >for the following year's fees (typically, a simple visit to a Family > >Physician is approx $21.56). Everyone pays a bit more in provincial > >taxes (and of course the medicare premium (No, OUR medicare is for > >ALL ages - not just for seniors) of $ 204 every three months) <snip> > I would gladly do this. I've been told Canada won't take me; my > chronic illness is too expensive. Good point. I wonder if our defenders of Canadian Health Care can cover this one. -- For answers to similar sci.med/cardiology FAQs, see my webpages. --- Andrew Chung Homepage (with answers to sci.med FAQs) at: http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~achung Mirrored at: http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/MED/HTN/~achung/
Mon, 11 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

Mel Smit #11 / 11	Getting adequate medical care with Medi-Cal (Medicaid in CA) : : Your solution is not to address the problem but run away from it. I'm not running away from anything !!! Our (Canadian) system is functioning now and has functioned for 25 years. We have U.S. insurance companies (e.g., Liberty Health) now trying to invade (pardon the pejorative) our country, and get to politicians (pardon again) to move our healthcare system to HMO-style. God Help us !! BTW, the medical practitioners (140) who use my billing system average $4000/week gross. With only one billing clerk to pay for and nearly zero insurance claims to submit, and NO expense in collecting their bills (electronic deposit by provincial government), our doctors make a very reasonable net income. Contrary to a previous post about Canadians who go across the border for operations, we have Americans who come to Canada for their operations and pay approx 1/3 of the typical fee charged by U.S hospitals. There is no way a Canadian can lose his life savings or home because of medical expenses !! Now, if only there was a way to stop getting screwed by Car Insurance Companies ... -Mel -- Mel Smith (in the Valley of the Sun)
Mon, 11 Sep 2000 03:00:00 GMT

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