Thread: Preventive care: It's free, except when it's not

Preventive care: It's free, except when it's not

By Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press Updated 3d 16h ago

CHICAGO – Bill Dunphy thought his colonoscopy would be free.

His insurance company told him it would be covered 100%, with no copayment from him and no charge against his deductible. The nation's 1-year-old health law requires most insurance plans to cover all costs for preventive care including colon cancer screening. So Dunphy had the procedure in April.

Then the bill arrived: $1,100.

Dunphy, a 61-year-old Phoenix small business owner, angrily paid it out of his own pocket because of what some prevention advocates call a loophole. His doctor removed two noncancerous polyps during the colonoscopy. So while Dunphy was sedated, his preventive screening turned into a diagnostic procedure. That allowed his insurance company to bill him.

Like many Americans, Dunphy has a high-deductible insurance plan. He hadn't spent his deductible yet. So, on top of his $400 monthly premium, he had to pay the bill.

"That's bait and switch," Dunphy said. "If it isn't fraud, it's immoral."

President Obama's health overhaul encourages prevention by requiring most insurance plans to pay for preventive care. On the plus side, more than 22 million Medicare patients and many more Americans with private insurance have received one or more free covered preventive services this year. From cancer screenings to flu shots, many services no longer cost patients money.

But there are confusing exceptions. As Dunphy found out, colonoscopies can go from free to pricey while the patient is under anesthesia.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...ion/52272518/1

Thanks Obama Care! Why the surprise? In France you pay dearly in taxes for National Health Care and still are looking at a 10% to 40% co-pay. It's where we are headed if we don't elect politicians to the House, Senate and White House dedicated to reversing the Democrats disastrous Health Care Bill. It's all up to you voters come next Nov 2012. I'm sure there's a ton of surprises in Obama Care, get ready the best of them is yet to come......Unless....

Originally Posted by Professor Peabody

Thanks Obama Care! Why the surprise? In France you pay dearly in taxes for National Health Care and still are looking at a 10% to 40% co-pay. It's where we are headed if we don't elect politicians to the House, Senate and White House dedicated to reversing the Democrats disastrous Health Care Bill. It's all up to you voters come next Nov 2012. There's a ton of surprises in Obama Care, get ready the best of them is yet to come......Unless....

Can you show us all specifically all of these surprises in the bill? I will link you a PDF of the Bill if you like. I am sure a number of the posters here including myself would LOVE to see these tons of surprises your speaking of!

Originally Posted by WalterSobchak

Can you show us all specifically all of these surprises in the bill? I will link you a PDF of the Bill if you like. I am sure a number of the posters here including myself would LOVE to see these tons of surprises your speaking of!

You'll have to wait till it's implemented to know what's really in it Wally. Better yet, if you have a link to the bill read it yourself.

Originally Posted by WalterSobchak

Can you show us all specifically all of these surprises in the bill? I will link you a PDF of the Bill if you like. I am sure a number of the posters here including myself would LOVE to see these tons of surprises your speaking of!

You don't seem to understand that most of the rules of Obamacare haven't even been made up yet.

The rules won't be debated in Congress, the rules won't be hashed out in public on C-Span where we can all see exactly what is going on.. instead a group of hired Governmen Bureaucrats will simply make whatever (*)(*)(*)(*) comes up in thier twisted little minds regardless of unintended consequences and force you to abide by it.

You see.. you want us to provide you with "surprises in the bill" when the surprises haven't been made up yet!

Do you honestly truly trust a Government bureaucrat to decide virtually all the major regulation you will have to suffer under without any public accountability at all?

Obamacare is "rule by technocrat" rather than by The People.

But then, its not like you really give a (*)(*)(*)(*) anyway, as long as tiny sliver of the population too lazy to purchase their own health insurance gets covered by your maginificent government benevolence, you don't care what it costs the rest of us! Just like the liberal in my sig! vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Just once I wish you liberals would openly admit that you support any lie, any backhanded hidden policy, any kind of downlow skullduggery to get what you want, which is single payer and if you have to create outrageous rules that are absolutely intended to bankrupt the insurance companies on purpose, even if the American people don't want it you will do it anyway.

That is the big difference between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans tell you to your face "we're going to screw you over", democrats hide it and are willing to lie, cheat and steal behind the backs of the American people to get what they want.

Originally Posted by Professor Peabody

You'll have to wait till it's implemented to know what's really in it Wally. Better yet, if you have a link to the bill read it yourself.

I have a link to the bill PP. How about this......I will post it and you can show us all the tons of surprises. Sound fair PP?

Originally Posted by SiliconMagician

You don't seem to understand that most of the rules of Obamacare haven't even been made up yet.

The rules won't be debated in Congress, the rules won't be hashed out in public on C-Span where we can all see exactly what is going on.. instead a group of hired Governmen Bureaucrats will simply make whatever (*)(*)(*)(*) comes up in thier twisted little minds regardless of unintended consequences and force you to abide by it.

You see.. you want us to provide you with "surprises in the bill" when the surprises haven't been made up yet!

Do you honestly truly trust a Government bureaucrat to decide virtually all the major regulation you will have to suffer under without any public accountability at all?

Obamacare is "rule by technocrat" rather than by The People.

But then, its not like you really give a (*)(*)(*)(*) anyway, as long as tiny sliver of the population too lazy to purchase their own health insurance gets covered by your maginificent government benevolence, you don't care what it costs the rest of us! Just like the liberal in my sig! vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Your post makes me zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. No offense.

Originally Posted by WalterSobchak

Your post makes me zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. No offense.

Of course it does.

Because you can't honestly refute any of it.

Originally Posted by WalterSobchak

Can you show us all specifically all of these surprises in the bill? I will link you a PDF of the Bill if you like. I am sure a number of the posters here including myself would LOVE to see these tons of surprises your speaking of!

You mean you don't remember Nancy Pelosi's words - "We must pass this bill to find out what's in it".???

How quickly the libs forget.........

Originally Posted by WalterSobchak

I have a link to the bill PP. How about this......I will post it and you can show us all the tons of surprises. Sound fair PP?

I'd say you have as good a chance of that happening as flying from coast to coast flapping your arms.

If you want to read it, then by all means read it. I voiced an opinion, but let me help you out here anyway.

o·pin·ion [uh-pin-yuhn] noun

1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.

2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/opinion

fact [fakt] noun

1. something that actually exists; reality; truth:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fact

Since I didn't go through all the pages of the bill, my belief or judgment rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty, therefore is an opinion. However, with that being said the poor fella in my OP found a costly Obama Care surprise the hard way and had to pay.....That's a fact. I hope that clears up any confusion you may have. I'm always willing to help out a PF buddy!

A colonoscopy finds polyps as well as other anomalies...

Study Finds Removing Polyps Saves Lives
February 24, 2012 - Colonoscopies prevent deaths from cancer

New research confirms removing polyps detected during colonoscopies saves lives. Colon cancer normally starts with growths called polyps inside the intestine. Previous studies have shown that removing polyps can prevent colon cancer from developing. The new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirms that.

Researcher Ann Zauber’s study involves patients with a kind of polyp, known as an adenoma, that can develop into cancer. "The adenoma is a precursor lesion for colon cancer, and if you remove that adenoma, then you can reduce the chance of having colon cancer and also prevent colon cancer deaths," she says.

Zauber, a biostatistician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and her team reviewed 2,600 cases in which patients had these pre-cancerous polyps removed. Then, they compared their death rates to the overall death rate. "So we took a high-risk population [with] adenomas, and compared it with the general population, which had a proportion of it with adenomas, and showed that we were more than 50 percent lower than the general population rate."

Specifically, there was a 53 percent lower death rate among those who had a colonoscopy and removal of the pre-cancerous adenomas. "The take-home message," Zauber says, "is that if you have adenomas removed, you get a long-term benefit. And that should mean good reassurance for people to have colon cancer screening."

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