tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30891543.post4505784533414515725..comments2023-10-28T06:47:11.363-07:00Comments on Is it Friday yet?: HMO = Shut Up and DieLynn Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02958402288888144904noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30891543.post-33520899362990376662008-05-20T15:08:00.000-07:002008-05-20T15:08:00.000-07:00You're spot on correct about the HMO part. They su...You're spot on correct about the HMO part. They suck; that's all there is to it.#1 Dinosaurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01357845504444464397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30891543.post-10806563557301863242008-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:002008-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00This treatment will probably be a much more accept...<B>This treatment will probably be a much more accepted practice in the insurance community at some point BUT it has been out for yearsssss so WHEN !? </B><BR/><BR/>The fact that the treatment has been an accepted practice wasn't the issue in my friend's case. It was because the HMO didn't want to pay for it, and (we believe) found two docs whose feet were held to the fire and "encouraged" to say she didn't qualify. If she died, big deal.Lynn Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02958402288888144904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30891543.post-61469562303822512882008-05-20T07:39:00.000-07:002008-05-20T07:39:00.000-07:00I am glad to hear your friend is getting the treat...I am glad to hear your friend is getting the treatment she wanted & needed many people probably would not have as much fight and smarts.<BR/><BR/>I think once the FDA approves a procedure or drug it should be mandatory for insurance companies to cover ..they really should just link the two systems for an insurance companies approval lists...I'd hope someone could change it to work that way but this is big BIG business that like you said mainly just cares about the bottom line in dollars and cents. Some like to claim Non-profit org. - WHAT A JOKE!!<BR/>It is quite disgraceful and disgusting the way they get away with denying a claim such as your friends..I am not a doctor and I'd guess case by case what is needed really varies but if someone could have the chance not to have to go through chemo by being treated with something such as the Cyberknife vs. going through chemo and a different type of radiology treatment..who dare have the right to deny that person their chance of survival and also possibly avoiding the awful stories heard of enduring chemo treatment...This treatment will probably be a much more accepted practice in the insurance community at some point BUT it has been out for yearsssss so WHEN !?<BR/><BR/>These are changes that would probably have to come from Congress but we'd need some good people with some common sense to really fight for a bill as such.<BR/>Maybe someday.kabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13809924697598954782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30891543.post-44067477028234440672008-05-18T17:42:00.000-07:002008-05-18T17:42:00.000-07:00CyberKnife is an incredible technology and is FDA ...CyberKnife is an incredible technology and is FDA approved to treat tumors and other conditions anywhere in the body. And its applications are expanding. Another group (CyberHeart), founded by venture capital legend Dr. Tom Fogarty, is even working on a protocol to utilize CyberKnife for certain forms of cardiac surgery. <BR/><BR/>Bear in mind that this is a new and disruptive technology, which faces all of the usual hurdles erected by the medical establishment. If you are facing a cancer diagnosis, you owe it to yourself to do your own research. If you blindly rely on what your doctor recommends, it may, literally, cost you your life. Many of them still don’t even know about CyberKnife and others will pooh-pooh it simply because it doesn’t fit into the treatment protocols that they are already selling. So you really need to do your own research.<BR/><BR/>Here are two links that should help you get the information you need with respect to CyberKnife…<BR/><BR/>http://www.accuray.com<BR/><BR/>http://www.cksociety.org<BR/><BR/>Also bear in mind that CyberKnife is not available in Canada and there are only a few systems in Europe and all of those are privately operated. Even though CyberKnife is less expensive that the traditional open surgery, chemo and conventional radiation paradigm, the socialized medicine systems of Canada and Europe are way behind the adoption curve, none of them currently offers CyberKnife. CyberKnife is available in Japan, but, thus far, the regulatory bureaucracy has limited its use to tumors of the head and neck.<BR/><BR/>So as bad as our system may (or may not) be, it’s even worse where the government calls all the shots. That is why cancer survival rates in both Canada and Europe are far lower than in the United States and why the Japanese chronically refer to their healthcare system as “death-by-delay”.<BR/><BR/>So, again, you need to do your own research, both with respect to your own treatment options as well as how certain proposed changes in our overall healthcare system actually work… or don’t.<BR/><BR/>And, no it won't be any better under a socialized system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com