3 ms·

At what point does dependence on insurance become a liability for medical approval? I would have thought we passed that threshold decades ago but the industry a

At what point does dependence on insurance become a liability for medical approval? I would have thought we passed that threshold decades ago but the industry appears to have the full throated endorsement of the state for some reason.

BurningFrog 3y ago
I don't see how expiring prescriptions are caused by insurance?
- darby_eight 3y ago
  Prescriptions are tied to billing. The main party with the incentive to withhold treatment is the party expecting a direct payment from the patient. I might see some concern if there's concern about abuse of the treatment, but that seems like a fundamental mischaracterization of the concept of prescription.
  - schiffern 3y ago
    Then to rephrase the question: >At what point does [the poors dying in the gutter when they can't afford care] become a liability? Never. That's a feature (arguably the feature) of for-profit healthcare, not a bug.
    - darby_eight 3y ago
      > That's a feature (arguably the feature) of for-profit healthcare, not a bug. Ok, at what point can we cull the rich in a comparable way?
  - BurningFrog 3y ago
    I assume you meant "expecting a direct payment TO the patient"? My understanding is that prescriptions are required for medications that carry risk, so a doctor needs to evaluate if it is appropriate for the patient, and at what dose. This avoids people self diagnosing and taking random doses of various medications. Pharmacies are happy to sell you medications that aren't covered by insurance at full price.
    - darby_eight 3y ago
      > This avoids people self diagnosing and taking random doses of various medications. This is such a non-issue it's impossible to take seriously. People do this regardless of prescriptions and the danger of the substances they're intaking (think: alcohol). What is the risk entailed by the device described in the original post that a prescription guardrail might prevent?
russdill 3y ago
I need to order supplemental nutrition for my son. I usually just pay out of pocket, but I contacted a company that can deliver the product and have it billed though my insurance. It would end up costing me about the same but would at least count towards my deductible. They delivered monthly. After the second delivery I got the first bill. It was much higher than they said the per unit cost was. After a lot of Byzantine exploration of billing codes, I discovered they were billing a daily charge for infusion. A lot of angry phone calls just reached the conclusion that they add this charge because they are allowed to by the insurance. I'm guessing this is a similar thing. They can keep charging a daily charge so long as they are able to control that the device is active.

BurningFrog 3y ago

I don't see how expiring prescriptions are caused by insurance?

darby_eight 3y ago
Prescriptions are tied to billing. The main party with the incentive to withhold treatment is the party expecting a direct payment from the patient. I might see some concern if there's concern about abuse of the treatment, but that seems like a fundamental mischaracterization of the concept of prescription.
- schiffern 3y ago
  Then to rephrase the question: >At what point does [the poors dying in the gutter when they can't afford care] become a liability? Never. That's a feature (arguably the feature) of for-profit healthcare, not a bug.
  - darby_eight 3y ago
    > That's a feature (arguably the feature) of for-profit healthcare, not a bug. Ok, at what point can we cull the rich in a comparable way?
- BurningFrog 3y ago
  I assume you meant "expecting a direct payment TO the patient"? My understanding is that prescriptions are required for medications that carry risk, so a doctor needs to evaluate if it is appropriate for the patient, and at what dose. This avoids people self diagnosing and taking random doses of various medications. Pharmacies are happy to sell you medications that aren't covered by insurance at full price.
  - darby_eight 3y ago
    > This avoids people self diagnosing and taking random doses of various medications. This is such a non-issue it's impossible to take seriously. People do this regardless of prescriptions and the danger of the substances they're intaking (think: alcohol). What is the risk entailed by the device described in the original post that a prescription guardrail might prevent?

russdill 3y ago

I need to order supplemental nutrition for my son. I usually just pay out of pocket, but I contacted a company that can deliver the product and have it billed though my insurance. It would end up costing me about the same but would at least count towards my deductible. They delivered monthly. After the second delivery I got the first bill. It was much higher than they said the per unit cost was. After a lot of Byzantine exploration of billing codes, I discovered they were billing a daily charge for infusion. A lot of angry phone calls just reached the conclusion that they add this charge because they are allowed to by the insurance. I'm guessing this is a similar thing. They can keep charging a daily charge so long as they are able to control that the device is active.