5 ms·

What happens when you need urgent medical care like the hospital using direct care?

by nodesocket 10y ago

Mz 10y ago
That is what the high deductible insurance or health savings account is for.
- mgkimsal 10y ago
  i can't contribute to an HSA without subscribing to a high deductible plan. " basically a membership in a clinic where you pay a monthly fee in order to get cheap access to your doctor... The monthly fee is substantially less than typical health insurance premiums." But... I still need a high-deductible plan to contribute to an HSA to deal with catastrophic issues anyway. high deductible plans are putting colleagues of mine in to $1000/month premiums already - saying "spend even more $ each month on a membership plan" isn't going to cut it for most people I know. 5 year ago a 'high deductible' plan cost my family <$300/month. Today it's close to triple what I paid just a few years back.
  - Mz 10y ago
    Well, you are only giving me partial info here. I am not sure if you merely want to shoot down what I am saying or just what. I have found this if you actually want info: https://directprimarycarejournal.com/2014/06/08/how-does-direct-primary-care-work-with-high-deductible-health-plans-hdhp-and-health-savings-accounts-hsas/ https://directprimarycarejournal.com/2014/06/08/how-does-dir...
    - mgkimsal 10y ago
      How am I giving you only partial info? "High deductible" plans, on their own, are very unaffordable relative to only a few years ago. Your link illustrates this even more. HSA funds can't be used for DPC monthly fees - those are out of pocket costs. You can pay service fees (for services over and above what's provided by regular DPC services) with HSA. However, you can't get money IN TO an HSA without also having a high-deductible insurance plan. You can say the HD plan is for catastrophic situations, with DPC being day to day, but for most folks I know, especially with families, the HD plan on its own has extremely high costs, and saying "let's also subscribe to a DPC service to keep our costs down!" makes 0 sense for almost all of them. DPC alone won't deal with "crap, I just got cancer and need $180k of treatment". "regular" insurance can deal with that, but it's still extremely expensive. Maybe I'm missing something in what you're trying to say.
      - Mz 10y ago
        Okay, that's valid. Here is the thing: Catastrophic health events are not determined by some random number generator that says "Tag! You're it! We decided to fuck with you today!" Study after study after study shows that diet, lifestyle and preventive care (or lack thereof) correlate strongly with whether or not someone winds up with a catastrophic health event. This includes cancer. One of the ways DPC lowers costs is by helping patients stay on top of health maintenance so health problems do not escalate. For example, patients with well managed diabetes can live long, healthy lives with few complications. Patients with poorly managed diabetes see high rates of blindess, foot amputations and other horrifying, expense, life altering health complications due to diabetes. Does that make any more sense?
        JoeAltmaier 10y ago
        Only about 40% of cancer can be controlled by our behavior. The rest are indeed random and unpredictable. Its healthy to see ourselves in control of our lives. But at some point it becomes unrealistic, or victim-blaming, or just denial.
        Mz 10y ago
        I am the wrong person to tell that to. But, you know, the masses will agree with you and when I try tell my true story of overcoming a medical death sentence by changing my diet and lifestyle, every asshole within three million miles piles on to kick the shit out of me and accuse me of being insane, often while mods in various forums largely side with the lynch mob, say it is my fault I am having the shit kicked out of me and turn a deaf ear to the idea that "no personal attacks" should apply equally as much to me as it does to any other member. So, since I am absolutely sure this is not a discussion that can be had in good faith at all, you just keep on believing whatever you want to believe. Don't let me confuse you with the facts.
        JoeAltmaier 10y ago
        I'm happy for you. But a personal story is not data. And the persecution complex is probably not working out very well I imagine.

What happens when you need urgent medical care like the hospital using direct care?

Mz 10y ago

That is what the high deductible insurance or health savings account is for.

mgkimsal 10y ago
i can't contribute to an HSA without subscribing to a high deductible plan. " basically a membership in a clinic where you pay a monthly fee in order to get cheap access to your doctor... The monthly fee is substantially less than typical health insurance premiums." But... I still need a high-deductible plan to contribute to an HSA to deal with catastrophic issues anyway. high deductible plans are putting colleagues of mine in to $1000/month premiums already - saying "spend even more $ each month on a membership plan" isn't going to cut it for most people I know. 5 year ago a 'high deductible' plan cost my family <$300/month. Today it's close to triple what I paid just a few years back.
- Mz 10y ago
  Well, you are only giving me partial info here. I am not sure if you merely want to shoot down what I am saying or just what. I have found this if you actually want info: https://directprimarycarejournal.com/2014/06/08/how-does-direct-primary-care-work-with-high-deductible-health-plans-hdhp-and-health-savings-accounts-hsas/ https://directprimarycarejournal.com/2014/06/08/how-does-dir...
  - mgkimsal 10y ago
    How am I giving you only partial info? "High deductible" plans, on their own, are very unaffordable relative to only a few years ago. Your link illustrates this even more. HSA funds can't be used for DPC monthly fees - those are out of pocket costs. You can pay service fees (for services over and above what's provided by regular DPC services) with HSA. However, you can't get money IN TO an HSA without also having a high-deductible insurance plan. You can say the HD plan is for catastrophic situations, with DPC being day to day, but for most folks I know, especially with families, the HD plan on its own has extremely high costs, and saying "let's also subscribe to a DPC service to keep our costs down!" makes 0 sense for almost all of them. DPC alone won't deal with "crap, I just got cancer and need $180k of treatment". "regular" insurance can deal with that, but it's still extremely expensive. Maybe I'm missing something in what you're trying to say.
    - Mz 10y ago
      Okay, that's valid. Here is the thing: Catastrophic health events are not determined by some random number generator that says "Tag! You're it! We decided to fuck with you today!" Study after study after study shows that diet, lifestyle and preventive care (or lack thereof) correlate strongly with whether or not someone winds up with a catastrophic health event. This includes cancer. One of the ways DPC lowers costs is by helping patients stay on top of health maintenance so health problems do not escalate. For example, patients with well managed diabetes can live long, healthy lives with few complications. Patients with poorly managed diabetes see high rates of blindess, foot amputations and other horrifying, expense, life altering health complications due to diabetes. Does that make any more sense?
      - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
        Only about 40% of cancer can be controlled by our behavior. The rest are indeed random and unpredictable. Its healthy to see ourselves in control of our lives. But at some point it becomes unrealistic, or victim-blaming, or just denial.
        Mz 10y ago
        I am the wrong person to tell that to. But, you know, the masses will agree with you and when I try tell my true story of overcoming a medical death sentence by changing my diet and lifestyle, every asshole within three million miles piles on to kick the shit out of me and accuse me of being insane, often while mods in various forums largely side with the lynch mob, say it is my fault I am having the shit kicked out of me and turn a deaf ear to the idea that "no personal attacks" should apply equally as much to me as it does to any other member. So, since I am absolutely sure this is not a discussion that can be had in good faith at all, you just keep on believing whatever you want to believe. Don't let me confuse you with the facts.
        JoeAltmaier 10y ago
        I'm happy for you. But a personal story is not data. And the persecution complex is probably not working out very well I imagine.