OMFG Walgreens You Suck

[Naidim]

its little more complicated than that. i recently did a consult at a large medical center in tucson and their selfpay (no insurance) patient rate was around 15 - 20 percent.... which is considered quite high. and the rest of the patient population had 3rd party coverage: private insurance, medicare and medicaid albeit the reimbursement is fairly low. so i highly doubt uninsured rate in er exceeds 80 percent.

I'm just relating what she said was their rate of paying patients through selfpay AND insurance in the ER exclusively (no idea what it is for the rest of the hospital). I know it's hearsay, but that's the only data I have to go on. Tucson has a large UDI population and the rate doesn't surprise me in the least however.

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[Praziquantel86]

If you don't have insurance and go to the ER for any emergency they HAVE to treat you. They will bill you but if you don't pay the Hospital has to recoup their loss from all the other paying customers. According to my friend who works in the ER at Tucson Medical Center they only get paid by 18% of their patients, meaning that 18% has to pay enough to cover themselves and the other 82%.

its little more complicated than that. i recently did a consult at a large medical center in tucson and their selfpay (no insurance) patient rate was around 15 - 20 percent.... which is considered quite high. and the rest of the patient population had 3rd party coverage: private insurance, medicare and medicaid albeit the reimbursement is fairly low. so i highly doubt uninsured rate in er exceeds 80 percent.

Agreed. The national rate (minus large academic medical centers, VA and IHS hospitals) is right around 5-8%. The places that you would expect to have the largest uninsured populations, the inner city hospitals, actually don't - their patients qualify for Medicaid.

In order to find a hospital with a large uninsured population, you have to go to an area with a lot of non-union blue-collar type workers. They'll be above the cutoff for Medicaid, but still unable to afford private insurance. Not the easiest place to find in the U.S.

 

[Its Z]

11.75% indigent patient rate qualifies a facility for 340B and DSH status.

 

[owlegrad]

Agreed. The national rate (minus large academic medical centers, VA and IHS hospitals) is right around 5-8%. The places that you would expect to have the largest uninsured populations, the inner city hospitals, actually don't - their patients qualify for Medicaid.

In order to find a hospital with a large uninsured population, you have to go to an area with a lot of non-union blue-collar type workers. They'll be above the cutoff for Medicaid, but still unable to afford private insurance. Not the easiest place to find in the U.S.

I thought border town hospitals had it the worst because of uninsured illegal immigrants? Or is that just anti-immigrant propaganda?

 

[confettiflyer]

I thought border town hospitals had it the worst because of uninsured illegal immigrants? Or is that just anti-immigrant propaganda?

Yeah basically.

No joke but your local CVS' OTC aisle becomes your primary care office for certain populations.

 

[Sparda29]

If you don't have insurance and go to the ER for any emergency they HAVE to treat you. They will bill you but if you don't pay the Hospital has to recoup their loss from all the other paying customers. According to my friend who works in the ER at Tucson Medical Center they only get paid by 18% of their patients, meaning that 18% has to pay enough to cover themselves and the other 82%.

Interesting, but what about the patients who do have insurance, but then get a bill for a copay of 20% in the mail.

 

[rph3664]

I have a Missouri license, and some well-meaning folks are thinking about making pseudoephedrine prescription only. Great - now we'll have decongestant pill mills.

 

[Tinkerbell22]

ahhh Tinkerbell, haven't responded to you in a while.

I think the new healthcare act required insurance to provide preventive care for free, don't know when that's supposed to take effect, but I would think some insurance providers started retooling their plans ahead of the date.

On that note, you guys have cheap insurance. I would have had to pay at least double that in undergrad if I didn't waive out.

Yeah I was actually surprised because I was expecting to pay since it was my first time using it and it wasn't preventative care, but maybe I will get a bill... lol.

Our insurance is actually very cheap... my undergrad insurance cost wayy more but it covered more rx and services as well... so I guess it's relative.

 

[MountainPharmD]

I have a Missouri license, and some well-meaning folks are thinking about making pseudoephedrine prescription only. Great - now we'll have decongestant pill mills.

That is a great idea. I am so sick of the time wasting process of selling PSE behind the counter. I have said from day 1 they should have made it prescription only. It would save me a whole bunch of time and I would get credit for the script which gives me more hours. We sell 60 to 70 PSE items a week. I would get 6 to 7 more tech hours if all those were run through as a prescription. Instead I sell it OTC and waste 3 to 4 minutes on each transaction and get no credit for it.

 

[ttopping]

That is a great idea. I am so sick of the time wasting process of selling PSE behind the counter. I have said from day 1 they should have made it prescription only. It would save me a whole bunch of time and I would get credit for the script which gives me more hours. We sell 60 to 70 PSE items a week. I would get 6 to 7 more tech hours if all those were run through as a prescription. Instead I sell it OTC and waste 3 to 4 minutes on each transaction and get no credit for it.

Waste of time or not, it would make it a pain in the *** for everyone else to get it. I'd rather not go see a doctor for a $20 copay everytime I get stuffy and want some pse...

 

[SHC1984]

This is correct. I'm a big fan of the "term life insurance only" argument, and only when you have dependents/a spouse. Everything else is a total rip off "whole life, etc..." and anyone who tells you otherwise is out for a commission.

Remember, debt extinguishes upon your death if there's no estate to go after, so no need to "leave money" to pay it off. Most of us are young with no real assets to pass along and a negative net worth. As you accumulate assets, start a business, have dependents, etc... insurance makes sense to keep from having to liquidate assets to pay creditors who have a claim on your estate. At that point, you'll probably want to look into setting up a revocable living trust to avoid probate.

but yeah no if you're 26, single, in a ton of debt, no assets...don't waste your money on life insurance. many work places will give you ~1x your salary as a death benefit for free or pennies, buy that in the meantime to pay for your funeral expenses.

My parents already bought me and my sister each a 300K cash value or whole life insurance. We can get 300K when we get a certain age...(I can't rememeber what age) and our children get 300K when we die. It was purchased when we were teenagers. So I already have that insurance. Me and my sister both have a ton of assets b/c my parents put both of our names on all the properties, houses and land that they own....and I am right now in 35K debt.

So what should I do with that insurance? they have already been paying it for 10 years now...and when i am a pharmacist they will give it to me and I will pay for it. What should I do with that insurance? obviously it will be stupid to just stop paying for it and lose all those years that we have already been paying for it! lol...what should I do? My mom also have a life insurance like that for 500K.

Lastly, can you tell me WHY it is a waste of money? Is the reason BECAUSE we can actually earn MORE MONEY by investing it into stocks and bonds or something? please explain WHY whole life insurance is a rip off! thanks!

 

[SHC1984]

actually yeah we can. i have the insurance from the school SHC and i go to, but other people i know have their own insurance... you just have to show proof of coverage before you get the school fee waived.

we also don't have to pay 300 dollars before stuff is paid for. most common infections, respiratory issues, allergies, flu, etc is covered by the health clinic where we can be seen for free. they also provide common medications for pretty low cost as well. i actually went off campus without a referral because the school clinic was closed and the insurance company paid for my visit and i got free antibiotics from my job at Publix (free antibiotic program, not what it sounds like. lol)

That's odd...I talked with the insurance lady on the phone...I asked her how much would it cost me if I went to a dermalotgist and she told me I had to pay my $300 deductible before the insurance will pay for anything...ODD. She also told me I had to pay 20% of the total fees after I ifinish paying the $300 deductible. Oh well...I don't really need to go to the derm...I was just wondering how much money it would actually save me. LOL...

 

[confettiflyer]

My parents already bought me and my sister each a 300K cash value or whole life insurance. We can get 300K when we get a certain age...(I can't rememeber what age) and our children get 300K when we die. It was purchased when we were teenagers. So I already have that insurance. Me and my sister both have a ton of assets b/c my parents put both of our names on all the properties, houses and land that they own....and I am right now in 35K debt.

So what should I do with that insurance? they have already been paying it for 10 years now...and when i am a pharmacist they will give it to me and I will pay for it. What should I do with that insurance? obviously it will be stupid to just stop paying for it and lose all those years that we have already been paying for it! lol...what should I do? My mom also have a life insurance like that for 500K.

Lastly, can you tell me WHY it is a waste of money? Is the reason BECAUSE we can actually earn MORE MONEY by investing it into stocks and bonds or something? please explain WHY whole life insurance is a rip off! thanks!

Dollar for dollar, term insurance is a better deal. It's simple, you pay in, it pays if you die, it doesn't if you don't, done and out once the term expires. This is the whole point of insurance.

You also don't need insurance for the rest of your life. At some point, your dependents will get older and your own cash value/estate value will rise while your debts/obligations (ie mortgages) will decrease. At this point you can call yourself "self-insured." The point of life insurance for most of us is to replace income to support dependents in the event of an untimely death.

As for your own whole life policy, you'll have to consult someone who knows the details of it. Might be worth surrendering it and going term but again consult a professional.

 

[MountainPharmD]

Waste of time or not, it would make it a pain in the *** for everyone else to get it. I'd rather not go see a doctor for a $20 copay everytime I get stuffy and want some pse...

How would it be a pain in the ass? You would need to see a doctor once a year and get a prescription with PRN refills on it. There is no limit on the amount you can get via a prescription.

 

[StewardshipDude]

Dollar for dollar, term insurance is a better deal. It's simple, you pay in, it pays if you die, it doesn't if you don't, done and out once the term expires. This is the whole point of insurance.

You also don't need insurance for the rest of your life. At some point, your dependents will get older and your own cash value/estate value will rise while your debts/obligations (ie mortgages) will decrease. At this point you can call yourself "self-insured." The point of life insurance for most of us is to replace income to support dependents in the event of an untimely death.

As for your own whole life policy, you'll have to consult someone who knows the details of it. Might be worth surrendering it and going term but again consult a professional.

correct for the most part. Term is the best for most people. It's cheap, plain vanilla and does its job if needed. Like most things, there are exceptions. I don't know your family finances, but for select wealthy folks, whole life is the way to go for estate planning purposes. For the rest of us, if you want a good investment, take the money you save with less expensive term and buy shares in select mutuals. Unless again, if you are very rich and have a multi-faceted tax avoidance strategy in place and this is one of the tactics in play.

 

[confettiflyer]

correct for the most part. Term is the best for most people. It's cheap, plain vanilla and does its job if needed. Like most things, there are exceptions. I don't know your family finances, but for select wealthy folks, whole life is the way to go for estate planning purposes. For the rest of us, if you want a good investment, take the money you save with less expensive term and buy shares in select mutuals. Unless again, if you are very rich and have a multi-faceted tax avoidance strategy in place and this is one of the tactics in play.

Yeah, keyword is "for the most of us." If you're the CEO of CVS, you probably have different needs vs. your rank-and-file. If you're in that $2M-$5M sweet spot of low-end non-RE net worth, it's gonna be situational.

On average though, you're looking at least 20-30% overpayment on whole vs. term.

As always, consult a CFP!

 

[Tinkerbell22]

That's odd...I talked with the insurance lady on the phone...I asked her how much would it cost me if I went to a dermalotgist and she told me I had to pay my $300 deductible before the insurance will pay for anything...ODD. She also told me I had to pay 20% of the total fees after I ifinish paying the $300 deductible. Oh well...I don't really need to go to the derm...I was just wondering how much money it would actually save me. LOL...

I'm not really sure because I never used it for the derm., but it could be different depending on the service you're getting. Like if you make an appointment for something non-emergency, etc then you might have a deductible and copay, but if you're just sick and go see a physician or NP at a clinic then you don't have to pay, or at least don't pay upfront (but I never got billed later?). Insurance is weird.

 

[owlegrad]

Insurance is weird.

Couldn't agree me.

I once used my insurance for an ER visit. They stalled paying for months. They kept sending me this form to fill out. I would fill it out and send it back. Weeks later a new form of the same type would come in the mail. I had to call several time before I finally spoke to someone who got it all cleared up and final paid their part of the ER bill. I know they were just trying to get me to give up and pay it myself. I am just glad the hospital did not turn it over to a collection agency in the meantime.