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Old February 24th 05, 07:00 PM
Monique Y. Mudama
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On 2005-02-24, CATherine penned:
The doctor wasn't there but a Nurse practitioner was there. She is great.
Very knowledgeable and helpful and answers my questions and gave me the most
thorough heart exam I ever had.

She told me i only had to cut my salt, fat and cholesterol in half after she
got my full life history! I told you she was thorough! She got all my eating
habits. Since I usually only eat one meal a day, I wasn't eating as much of
the bad stuff as i thought. A lot for one meal, though. Of course, she would
rather I spread the consumption out into more, smaller meals.


Eek! I'd rather you eat more small meals, too =P Your blood sugar won't
spike as much and your stomach will also shrink, allowing you to feel full
with less food. Me, I couldn't survive on one meal a day. I'm on the five or
six meal plan =P

Since I don't have insurance, she sold me the meds from the clinic at cost.
They do that only for those patients without insurance. $20 for the two
bottles for two months. A good savings. But she would like me to get company
insurance as now I am in the age and health bracket where I am going to need
it. I am thinking about it. But it is expensive. That is like $80 a month
for the premium and then the co-pays for the doctor and meds, etc. A lot of
money in the long run. But I have time to think about it as i can't enrol
until November.


FWIW, those medication prices sound tiny to me.

I've never been without health insurance; it would terrify me. As I
understand it, a major reason to get health insurance is the problem of
pre-existing conditions. If there are no gaps in your insurance coverage,
insurance companies have to take you, even if you have a major problem like
cancer or something. But if you get diagnosed with something and don't have
insurance, they're no longer required to accept you. Something like that. I
may have my facts wrong.

I can't imagine not having health insurance, and specifically a PPO where I
can go to a specialist without needing a doctor's note first. I had a problem
with my wrist last year -- I'm not sure if it's really fixed yet, but just the
MRI cost $1500 or so, of which I paid maybe $150. But I also had several sets
of xrays, several doctor's visits, and a cortizone injection. That's just for
one little thing. DH was hospitalized twice, each time totalling over $10K in
costs, the vast majority of which the insurance company picked up. And
insurance companies typically 100% cover routine preventative stuff, like yearly
checkups, which can add up.

Sorry; I don't mean to preach. Obviously you should do what you think is
best. It would make me very uncomfortable to not have health insurance.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca