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Lyme disease
My friends husband has been diagnosed with lyme disease and they have no insurance...I know thru the breast cancer foundation they will set up a donation website for you...does anyone know if you can do one with Lyme Disease?
I hear you.... Not too many people here in Canada want to be a general practitioner.... They all want to specialize where they make twice as much.... The average GP here have to work on average 55 hrs per week just to make decent money.... Most people think they make allot, but after you factor in the overhead for rent and staff, and also that they have no benefits or pension, it doesn't look all that great... Especially when you are graduating in your late 20's with debt from going to school all those years.... The only real benefit is that they at least have job security....
"Their are some Dr's who went into the profession to help people and not just for the money... "
On this point, I was clearing out some old boxes of bills etc., and found a bunch of doctor's bills from 10-15 years ago (yeah, I know, I'm a packrat.)
It was amazing how low the MD's bills were -- and from the MDs I know personally, the problem is that Medicare reimbursement rates have gone lower and lower over the years, causing MDs to raise rates on non-Medicare patients to make up the difference. Next time you are at your MD's office, look around: what's the rent cost? what's the salary for the receptionist/bookkeeper, the nurse, the other staff? Add all that up and add on what you consider a reasonable salary for an MD to make. Realize that an MD can't see patients 8 to 10 hours a day and still have time to keep up with changes in medicine by reading and studying to educate him/herself.
The take what your MD gets from your insurance company for seeing you for X minutes, and do the math. Most MDs aren't getting fabulously wealthy, and spending 4 years in medical school plus years as intern and resident are no picnic. The docs are getting squeezed between the insurance companies and Medicare, and the patients are the ones paying the price, both because the MDs have to charge nonMedicare patients more to make up for the reimbursement rate from Medicare. Getting the government deeper into healthcare control will not be good, and it's not the MD's fault.
On this point, I was clearing out some old boxes of bills etc., and found a bunch of doctor's bills from 10-15 years ago (yeah, I know, I'm a packrat.)
It was amazing how low the MD's bills were -- and from the MDs I know personally, the problem is that Medicare reimbursement rates have gone lower and lower over the years, causing MDs to raise rates on non-Medicare patients to make up the difference. Next time you are at your MD's office, look around: what's the rent cost? what's the salary for the receptionist/bookkeeper, the nurse, the other staff? Add all that up and add on what you consider a reasonable salary for an MD to make. Realize that an MD can't see patients 8 to 10 hours a day and still have time to keep up with changes in medicine by reading and studying to educate him/herself.
The take what your MD gets from your insurance company for seeing you for X minutes, and do the math. Most MDs aren't getting fabulously wealthy, and spending 4 years in medical school plus years as intern and resident are no picnic. The docs are getting squeezed between the insurance companies and Medicare, and the patients are the ones paying the price, both because the MDs have to charge nonMedicare patients more to make up for the reimbursement rate from Medicare. Getting the government deeper into healthcare control will not be good, and it's not the MD's fault.
Look at the good news, at least you know what it is and can start treatment.... Not knowing is the worst....
I started off with the doctors thinking it was MS, then they started thinking ALS and I had only a few years left to live..... Then not ALS since I have way too many off the wall symptoms that don't make sense.... I brought up Lyme a couple of times, they said no... no lyme in Canada.... Luckily I developed a circular rash later on and was sent to a dermatologist who had seen a case of Lyme before, and sent to a ID doctor who has experience in dealing with Lyme.... The ID Dr said that most people are in wheel chairs before they get to him since their are so few cases here and nobody has any experience with Lyme and don't even look for it....
So after all that, now I'm happy I have Lyme, that I was diagnosed in only 8 months (coud have been allot worse) and that it is treatable.... It's all relative to where you were and where you are now....
As far as treatment goes, bright side is that it can be relatively inexpensive to treat... and it is treatable/curable! Talk to your Dr's as at the end of the day something can be worked out.... Their are some Dr's who went into the profession to help people and not just for the money...
I started off with the doctors thinking it was MS, then they started thinking ALS and I had only a few years left to live..... Then not ALS since I have way too many off the wall symptoms that don't make sense.... I brought up Lyme a couple of times, they said no... no lyme in Canada.... Luckily I developed a circular rash later on and was sent to a dermatologist who had seen a case of Lyme before, and sent to a ID doctor who has experience in dealing with Lyme.... The ID Dr said that most people are in wheel chairs before they get to him since their are so few cases here and nobody has any experience with Lyme and don't even look for it....
So after all that, now I'm happy I have Lyme, that I was diagnosed in only 8 months (coud have been allot worse) and that it is treatable.... It's all relative to where you were and where you are now....
As far as treatment goes, bright side is that it can be relatively inexpensive to treat... and it is treatable/curable! Talk to your Dr's as at the end of the day something can be worked out.... Their are some Dr's who went into the profession to help people and not just for the money...
Sorry, I don't know. Everyone struggles with paying for treatment, even those with insurance.
The good news is that your friend's husband got a diagnosis: worse is to be ill and not know what it is or what to do about it. Small consolation, I know.
He might ask his MD for a cut rate or payment terms. Don't know that that will help; docs have to pay the rent too.
The good news is that your friend's husband got a diagnosis: worse is to be ill and not know what it is or what to do about it. Small consolation, I know.
He might ask his MD for a cut rate or payment terms. Don't know that that will help; docs have to pay the rent too.
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