No pension. No health benefits.

[LovesLife]

We have a high deductable insurance (BCBS IA) and we are all in good health. Premiums for family run $304, per month. Each family member gets a $500 credit to use towards a routine phyical or minor problem resolved in doctor's office.

 

[REWahoo]

At the age of 57+, I am still in terrific physical shape.

Translation: I will be a fine looking corpse...

 

[Jarhead*]

At the risk of lumping JG & Jarhead into the same category (sorry, Jarhead), are you guys both members of the same "blissfully ignorant" club?!?

Nords: I knew the minute that I clicked on the post button, two things would happen in the A.M. The sun would come up, and Nords would
reply with a couple of analogys, and an insulting remark or two. (Incidentally, glad to hear your fathers alright).
Regarding being "blissfully" ignorant. Not possible at my age. (At least the "blissfully" part.)
While I don't take the hard line "Christian Science" approach to health. (Basically no doctor approach), I have tried to show personal responsibility for my own health. (Staying physically active, watching weight, blah, blah, blah).
In any case, I wasn't endorsing, or recommending that anyone follow my approach.
In my opinion, our society at large, is over-medicated, over-tested, over-doctored, and the health care costs seem to bear that out.
Oh, and by the way, I've never had a "flu" shot .
Well, Nords, nice chatting with you, but have a 10:00 tee off time, so have to run.

P.S. You're going to be a real "pain in -ss", when you're my age.

Regards, Jarhead

 

[MJ]

Translation: I will be a fine looking corpse...

REW, I wasn't talking about my physical appearance. Most people look at my face and think I'm 75.
I hope to be around when you announce your grand grand children's wedding on this forum. This afternoon, I'm taking my 94 1/2 yo father to a family wedding.

Maybe he's waiting for me the finally get married but I have to find the future Mrs.MJ, 1st. I'll be in Thailand at the end of October. I might bring back my Mrs. 18 yo true love . That should really send him packing.

MJ

 

[Nords]

This afternoon, I'm taking my 94 1/2 yo father to a family wedding.

That's even more impressive than Tony Randall's marital record!

 

[Nords]

Oh, and by the way, I've never had a "flu" shot .

Yikes! Judging by my medical record, flu or pneumonia will be my death. It'd be interesting to see if you still feel that way about flu shots after reading The Great Influenza.

P.S. You're going to be a real "pain in -ss", when you're my age.

We're gonna have to compare notes again in another couple decades, but my spouse says that she thinks I'm getting a head start on that. She's really glad that you guys occupy so much of my attention so that she doesn't have to...

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Jeez, Nords really went on a tear. Like Jarhead, I have never had
a flu shot either, and don't intend to in the future. I did get the flu
in the winter of 03\04 and truly thought I might die (DW points out
that I often think it's the end but it's a false alarm). Anyway, Jarhead and I have already lived quite a long time,
and there are a few folks (not here I hope) that think I have
already overstayed my welcome.

JG

 

[Danny]

Don't know what the percentage is, but it happened to me. My wife was diagnosed with cancer in 1984, and treatment costs topped $2MM by the time she died in 1997. The last 12 months alone were in excess of $1MM.

Peter - you and your wife went through so much - I was really touched by your post.


I have 10,000 deductible with 100% coverage over that. There is normally at least a 20% discounting of the bill by BCBS. The out of pocket and premiums are below what I would pay just for the premiums of a standard policy. I am fortunate to have the resources to cover the 10,000 deduct. Did cobra for the first 18 months and had to go through the hassle and uncertainity of having 5 people reviewed and approved by underwriters with comebacks for more info all the while watching the cobra clock wind down. It was a lot easier working for a corp. and getting health ins automatically....

 

[sgeeeee]

. . .Like Jarhead, I have never had
a flu shot either, and don't intend to in the future.  . . .

I got a flu shot once -- the only year that I actually got the flu. From what I've read, flu shots are about as likely to hurt as to help.

 

[MJ]

Don't remember if I ever got a flu shot as a kid but have never had one as an adult. About 3 years ago, I did get the flu. All I took was oscillococcinum, a homeopathic flu remedy and to relieve my discomfort I took a tylenol at night.

MJ

 

[Martha]

Women are much better than men about going to the doctor. At least that is my impression--no statistics here.

I end up there about every six months--for medication checks. Physical about every three years. Since my best friend got breast cancer, mammogram every year for me.

Because my mother died in her 30s of a heart attack and my father also died of heart disease, I have had two stress tests, one last year where they put some kind of nuclear material in my veins and took pictures of my heart. Everything was just fine. The question is whether this is a waste of valuable medical resources just to give me piece of mind. My insurance paid. Would I have done it if I had to pay for it myself?

 

[razztazz]

Because my mother died in her 30s of a heart attack and my father also died of heart disease, I have had two stress tests, one last year where they put some kind of nuclear material in my veins and took pictures of my heart. Everything was just fine. The question is whether this is a waste of valuable medical resources just to give me piece of mind. My insurance paid. Would I have done it if I had to pay for it myself?

I do the same thing every 5 yrs/ It's called a "Thalium heart scan" or a "Cardiolite" stress test" Just had one done in July in fact. My insurance paid also. Alles klar Herr Kommissar.

The retail "street price" of this is 1400-2000 clams. If you get it only every 5 yrs it's not really that expensive even if you paid for it on your own which I budgeted for in case the insurance didn't want to.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I do the same thing every 5 yrs/ It's called a "Thalium heart scan" or a "Cardiolite" stress test" Just had one done in July in fact. My insurance paid also.  Alles klar Herr Kommissar.

The retail "street price" of this is 1400-2000 clams.  If you get it only every 5 yrs it's not really that expensive even if you paid for it on your own which I budgeted for in case the insurance didn't want to.

They recommended this for me (also a standard stress test).
Sounded expensive and the "Cardiolite stress test" scared the
hell out of me. With no family history (on either side), I shopped for
a cheap heart scan. Came back 100% clear. One less thing to worry about.

JG

 

[MJ]

Because my mother died in her 30s of a heart attack and my father also died of heart disease, I have had two stress tests, one last year where they put some kind of nuclear material in my veins and took pictures of my heart. Everything was just fine. The question is whether this is a waste of valuable medical resources just to give me piece of mind. My insurance paid. Would I have done it if I had to pay for it myself?

I began my annual checkup in 2001 when I turned 53. The doctor I when to for my annual was also a cardiologist. He had me do a full stress test the 1st 2 years, all covered by my insurance. On the 3rd year, he again wanted to schedule another stress test. According to him, year after year, I was in perfect health with excellent BP, EKG, low resting pulse (45) and an active excercise schedule. When I questioned the need for it, he got quite annoyed which I suspect was due to the loss of $2k charge for the echo and stress test.
I, on the other hand, saved 1 day at the doctors and did not allow him to inject me with "suppositely" harmless low level radioactive material (for the 1st time).

IMO, I suspect some people wouldn't run to doctors for a number of health problems, if they had to kick in 100% of ther own money.

 

[bosco]

The retail "street price" of this is 1400-2000 clams. If you get it only every 5 yrs it's not really that expensive even if you paid for it on your own which I budgeted for in case the insurance didn't want to.

I just had one and my portion was $370 (insurance paid 80%).

Clue #1 for having insurance pay: When you go in to see the doctor, mention "chest tightness." That usually does the trick. All kinds of doors open up, insurance-wise....

I used to have coverage for annual checkup, and had a stress-test every year. About 3 years ago, coverage changed to one that did not include this. I decided it was time to have things checked out, and those magic words "chest tightness" did the rest. I wasn't even expecting the full-blown test with the dye and everything, but that's what I got.

 

[Martha]

This stress test discussion is interesting. Seems like a waste of resources for MJ's doctor to push them on him every year when he has no symptoms and no evidence of heart disease.

Bosco, of course you got a Thallium stress test--you said chest tightness. Now you have that on your medical record.

Unnessary tests costs us all. The hard part is to determine if a test is necessary or not. Where is the web site that outlines best practices for the medical profession?

 

[razztazz]

Martha's right. if you ave no probkems and no history of any diseases etc then you dont need it. MAAAYbe ONE at say age 50  just look behind the Green Door, ya nver know, But ongoing tests.. BS In MY case the old man had earlkyonset heart attacks and strokes in his 40's./ But he smoked and drank and had a high stress life which I have scrupulously avoided. How much of this is genes and how much cause/effect...?
Another buzz that's been showing up the past few yrs is that "annual check uP" is also a waste of time. It doesnt find anything. Whe I go to the doctor it's because if a problem or something of a "known threat" that requires getting out in front of.  eg The old prostate check every yr, maybe off the rack chest X rays every 5 yrs or so (X smoker here).

I even plan to blow off the colonoscopy due to my own research and a thread on this board some time ago. Cancer risk=small. Complication/death by Colonoscopy=much greater

 

[REWahoo]

Cancer risk=small. Complication/death by Colonoscopy=much greater

It just feeeels like you're dying...

 

[grumpy]

The radiation treatments I had 22 years ago for testicular cancer (like Lance Armstrong) knocked down my immune system. While my white cell count has slowly recovered over the years it is still at the low end of normal. I have gotten a flu shot every year since then and have never had the flu. Last year, when flu vaccine was in short supply my DW didn't get the shot and was really sick for three weeks with the flu. I use way more than my share of this country's medical resources. I have an appointment this afternoon with a pain management specialist to see if there is any medication to replace Vioxx and Bextra which I was on until they were taken off the market.

Grumpy

 

[bosco]

Bosco, of course you got a Thallium stress test--you said chest tightness. Now you have that on your medical record.

I was aware that I would get this on my record, however

my father died of coronary at age 46
I have borderline hypertension (which they only now decided to treat)
I don't have insurance coverage problems, either now or after I ER in 2 years (I will acutally have triple-coverage)

So I decided it was worth it to chant the magic mantra. Believe me, it's not because I needed the attention out of boredom. Part of it is that I knew I would be shipping out to an area without good facilities for a few months and wanted to be sure everything was in order.

I suppose it would bite me if I decided I want to purchase life insurance. But somehow I think my father's medical history would have bitten me anyway.

Good news is--I have low cholesteroll (only one in my family who does). Fortunately, no cholesterol in beer

 

[Martha]

Bosco, I guess having both parents die of heart disease gets me an insurance paid stress test even though I don't have symptoms of heart disease.

Did you have the C reactive protein (CRP) test to measure for inflamation?

 

[bosco]

Did you have the C reactive protein (CRP) test to measure for inflamation?

No, I may have to ask about that one. What's involved with it?

In the case of the Thallium stress test, they first gave me just an ordinary stress test. It looked good except for one blip that the doc didn't know if it was a problem or an "artifact" (love that term....if you encode an MP3 and it clicks or pops where it shouldn't, that's an artifact too). So they gave me the thallium test to check out the artifact. Turns out it was nothing, as hoped.

My doc is not a big one for what she feels are unnecessary tests. This is ok with me, in general.

Of course, the biggest favour I could do for myself health-wise is drop about 15 pounds.

 

[Martha]

The CRP test is just a blood test. Supposedly inflammation is a major marker for heart disease and the test is a measure of inflammation. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003356.htm

Cheap and easy.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

JG

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Send over the pictures so we can check her out.

Man, I've been scanner shopping like crazy (Walmart tomorrow), especially since someone
(REW?) accused me of making empty promises. I've got a photo on my desk
which will likely be the first to post. So be patient. I expect a lot of............."How did this guy end up with a looker like that?" It's okay. Take your best shot

JG

 

[HFWR]

Already posted that...