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I read the entire article. No, this is not California-wide, far from it! It affects a grand total of four retirees in the tiny hamlet of Loyalton, Calif. Three years ago the city council of that tiny hamlet voted to leave CalPERS, and that is the root of the problem. I feel for those four people, but when we read the title of the article in the link above, it gives a very misleading impression.
I'm not claiming CalPERS has no potential funding problems, but gee wilikers, they haven't cut the pension of anybody who is still under CalPERS.
This is especially true for specialists and or those doctors with practices that can get on without accepting insurance in any form. My "quack" has never accepted any sort of insurance or Medicare. You pay upfront and they will give you the information to submit to be reimbursed.
Now it also happens that NYC does have a good number of second and third tier doctors who aren't necessarily connected with the big teaching hospitals or have exclusive/expensive practices, there people may have better luck if on Medicare, and perhaps even Medicaid.
Thank you for posting that article. All very true. More and more doctors post signs stating that they are no longer accepting Medicare. I dread when we can get on it because it is mostly useless and it will be a reason to continue working forever. Very few psychiatrists who treat non ADD issues accept insurance and if you have an orphan disease or something that is not in the usual category of cancer, cardiac, etc. it's very hard to find a doctor who will accept any form of insurance. I can see where all of my savings are going to go.One of the reasons, we continue living in NY is because there are doctors who treat certain ailments and few outside of the area have that kind of expertise. But they have expensive overhead because of their office location and find the insurance reimbursement too low.
we live in ny too. so far all the restrictions have been on the regular health plans we have had . i have switched doctors endlessly every time either we changed insurers which was almost yearly or the doctors changed .
i can say since my wife is on medicare with only two exceptions with new doctors every doctor we wanted to use took medicare . it has been soooooooooooo much better being on medicare than our restrictive in network plans we had for decades .
we use the northwell health /northshore lij group a lot since we live near LIJ and never had an issue with anyone not taking medicare . can't say there are doctors that won't take it , only that for us medicare is so much better than the old plans we had as far as having to stay in network .
we are 10 minutes from northshore and couldn't use it or any facility's with my plan's . .
we live in ny too. so far all the restrictions have been on the regular health plans we have had . i have switched doctors endlessly every time either we changed insurers which was almost yearly or the doctors changed .
i can say since my wife is on medicare with only two exceptions with new doctors every doctor we wanted to use took medicare . it has been soooooooooooo much better being on medicare than our restrictive in network plans we had for decades .
we use the northwell health /northshore lij group a lot since we live near LIJ and never had an issue with anyone not taking medicare . can't say there are doctors that won't take it , only that for us medicare is so much better than the old plans we had as far as having to stay in network .
we are 10 minutes from northshore and couldn't use it or any facility's with my plan's . .
We have never been self-employed and we have always opted for a PPO or something that accepts out of network claims. That is an essential for us. However, for some doctors they will just fill out the form, you submit it yourself and you cross your fingers that you will get some reimbursement. Some doctors in the Northwell network accept my insurance. Not all northwell doctors will accept medicare so be forewarned. Northwell has been fine if you have common ailments such as cancer, high blood pressure, basic cardiac problems, basic gastrointestinal problems, pregnancy, etc. Just called an orthopedist in the so-called Northwell network and he doesn't accept many insurance plans, not sure if he accepts Medicare, but would be surprised if he did. Going to use someone else through HSS. Former pediatric orthopedist in New Hyde park stopped accepting our insurance and also won't accept Medicare. We had to switch and it wasn't easy to find someone with good recommendations who could treat this condition. If you have to start using doctors with a Manhattan address, it's even harder to find one who accepts insurance.
....................... More and more doctors post signs stating that they are no longer accepting Medicare. I dread when we can get on it because it is mostly useless and it will be a reason to continue working forever..............
No, Medicare is definitely not "mostly useless". I have been enrolled in Medicare for almost eight years now and my personal experience is that it is totally useful. I have had hernia surgery and various diagnostic tests plus physician visits, both primary and specialist, plus urgent care and emergency room visits. Plus I am on two Rx medications (freak of nature with a genetically substandard body in almost every respect. I even have hearing aids.)
I cannot speak to whatever weird situation may prevail in New York City, and I cannot speak to every rare and unusual ailment which may be problematic. But logic requires that we not describe rare situations as "mostly". Using that kind of hyperbole is not conducive to rational discussion.
No, Medicare is definitely not "mostly useless". I have been enrolled in Medicare for almost eight years now and my personal experience is that it is totally useful. I have had hernia surgery and various diagnostic tests plus physician visits, both primary and specialist, plus urgent care and emergency room visits. Plus I am on two Rx medications (freak of nature with a genetically substandard body in almost every respect. I even have hearing aids.)
I cannot speak to whatever weird situation may prevail in New York City, and I cannot speak to every rare and unusual ailment which may be problematic. But logic requires that we not describe rare situations as "mostly". Using that kind of hyperbole is not conducive to rational discussion.
It's not a weird NYC situation. It's common in high cost of living areas like parts of D.C. where overhead is high and the reimbursement doesn't cover the costs.
Rare ailments are just that-rare. Uncommon ailments still affect tens of thousands of people or ailments that don't get a lot of publicity, at present. Medicare is still useful for hospitalization because most hospitals do accept it. A generation ago, no one heard of schelorderma, but there were many sufferers. It just wasn't publicized until an actor made a TV movie about it. As costs continue to skyrocket, everyone will be affected because doctors won't accept insurance reimbursement and younger doctors, especially, won't accept them because of outstanding medical school loans. As others and I have noted, many doctors do not participate in private insurance plans for the same reason-reimbursement rates.
My parents relied on Medicare extensively. It was not useless for them. But that is not universal and as previously noted, things change. Please don't dictate what can or cannot be discussed here because it's not relevant to you. Note the topic, "no one is discussing the fate of poor retirees." I am glad that Medicare is very beneficial for you, but for others who will need to use their savings up because their doctors will not accept some private insurance companies and/or Medicare, it hinders quality of life and decisions to be made about lifestyles.
It's not a weird NYC situation. It's common in high cost of living areas like parts of D.C. where overhead is high and the reimbursement doesn't cover the costs.
Rare ailments are just that-rare. Uncommon ailments still affect tens of thousands of people or ailments that don't get a lot of publicity, at present. Medicare is still useful for hospitalization because most hospitals do accept it. A generation ago, no one heard of schelorderma, but there were many sufferers. It just wasn't publicized until an actor made a TV movie about it. As costs continue to skyrocket, everyone will be affected because doctors won't accept insurance reimbursement and younger doctors, especially, won't accept them because of outstanding medical school loans. As others and I have noted, many doctors do not participate in private insurance plans for the same reason-reimbursement rates.
My parents relied on Medicare extensively. It was not useless for them. But that is not universal and as previously noted, things change. Please don't dictate what can or cannot be discussed here because it's not relevant to you. Note the topic, "no one is discussing the fate of poor retirees." I am glad that Medicare is very beneficial for you, but for others who will need to use their savings up because their doctors will not accept some private insurance companies and/or Medicare, it hinders quality of life and decisions to be made about lifestyles.
Excellent post and this much needed to be said.
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