This post has been shared by the AdvoConnection Blog. It was written with a patient-client audience in mind, but might be useful to you, too.
It is provided so you can find it in a search here at myAPHA.org, but you’ll need to link to the original post to read it in its entirety. Find the link to that post at the end of the excerpt.
The Dangers of Having Great Health Insurance
On occasion, in a conversation with new acquaintance, they’ll ask me what I do for a living. I tell them I established and run the most comprehensive directory of independent, private health and patient advocates and care managers online, supported by a marvelous professional organization whose members populate the directory. “Independent and private?” they ask me. “I don’t need an advocate like that because I have great health insurance!” “Oh but you’re wrong!” I reply. “In some ways you need an independent advocate even more than someone with lousy insurance does!” I then go on to explain why. Remember, the entire healthcare system of the United States is based on money. Every aspect of medical care is focused solely on parting us patients and health individuals from our money. The more ways they can think of to suck money from our pockets, and the more opaque they can be about that process, the happier the system, and the unhappier the patient. That word “opaque” is important because it is there that so many people don’t realize what is happening to them. When they don’t realize it, then they don’t recognize the dangers to their health and to their wallets, too. Those with “great” health insurance are especially vulnerable because they think their care isn’t going to “cost” them anything – so they go along with it all. Going along is dangerous to their health and their wallets. Here are some examples of the health dangers of great insurance: Jeff B. was hurt in a dirt bike accident. He works for a large employer who offers good health coverage, so neither he nor his wife gave much thought to the care Jeff was receiving. As a result, he received treatment he didn’t really need, including multiple x-rays (when one set would have been just fine) – which exposed him to radiation poisoning. Surgery was recommended – and it turned out to be unnecessary. Further, Jeff’s doctor prescribed opiates for his pain, Jeff became dependent on them, and now his pain is far beyond what it should have been and he’s dealing with withdrawal, too. He hurts, he feels desperate, and so far he hasn’t been able to return to work OR get disability payments. Jeff didn’t know the questions to ask. Jeff didn’t understand the ramifications of letting the doctors do everything the doctors wanted to do. Jeff didn’t realize he…