Question:
Will be needing supplemental ins. with medicare..are these hard to get with RNY?

I just read answers to lady who can't get health insurance after RNY. That is pathetic...I will be 65 in a couple of years and will need to pick up supplemental insurance to go with medicare? Is that hard to get too? Where are their ethics??? Lyn Anders    — SkinnyLynni2B (posted on June 18, 2008)

June 18, 2008
Lyn: (see, I REMEMBERED! Just ONE "N") I cannot say how easy or difficult supplemental insurance is going to be to get with RNY, but I CAN commiserate. I have been unable to find inexpensive insurance for YEARS, since I was diagnosed a diabetic. Had I HAD decent insurance, I am SURE that I would have had to FIGHT with them to get the SURGERY that I needed that would (and DID) help CURE me of the disease! I have an "Emergency" policy NOW that covers the cost of what THEY deem "NEEDED" surgical procedures. There is a VERY HIGH deductible (5,000.00) and they have to AGREE that the surgery was NECESSARY. My WIFE paid CASH for my surgery. She has submitted the FORMS to the insurance company in the HOPE that they will reimburse her a PORTION of the cost of the operation. We were TOLD that my type of procedure was COVERED by the company, but they have DELAYED in processing the claim for MONTHS now. Each time we call about it, we get a DIFFERENT EXCUSE as to why we have heard NOTHING about the claim. This LAST time was because the forms were filled out in SPANISH. I had my procedure done in MEXICO. If there was a problem with the forms, they could have CALLED me. We TOLD them that. We were told that they had lost our NUMBER. They did NOT lose our ADDRESS. We STILL get BILLED for the insurance! They could not WRITE a LETTER? We had to wait for a MONTH and a HALF without hearing from them until I CALLED them to find out the STATUS! I am going to Mexico to get the forms that are required in ENGLISH. We will FAX them, AGAIN. I will then call back in a week or so to see what the status is and FOLLOW UP regularly. They will do ANYTHING to avoid PAYING. That is the problem with the insurance companies. They make money on HEALTHY people. They do not WANT to insure people with illnesses. They are NOT in business to make health care affordable. They are in business to make MONEY! The only way that they DO that is by denying claims and excluding people that they believe will MAKE claims. If they are FORCED to include them, like they are at my wife's workplace, they PRICE the insurance so HIGH that people cannot AFFORD it. This way, they exclude those people by making them make that choice THEMSELVES! Insurance companies are chiefly BETTING that YOU will be HEALTHY. When you USE them, you are betting that YOU will NOT be, and that you will need them to PAY. Insurance companies have learned how to stack the DECK in their favor. Insurance has become one of the biggest SCAMS in the WORLD. There ARE no ethics in insurance. I have NEVER met an ETHICAL insurance salesman. In EVERY FIELD, I can meet people that I can say are essentially GOOD or BAD. Used Car Dealers, for instance, have gotten a reputation for being dirty dealers. I have met a FEW used car dealers that I have considered to be HONEST men (or women). There aren't MANY, but there are SOME. I have NOT met any Insurance Sales People that I have known PERSONALLY, that have been decent, honest, people. Each one has had a slimy character. It just seems to take that kind of personality to succeed in that business. You cannot be HONEST and LIKE what you do to people in that industry. If you are HONEST, you get out. If you LIKE it, you are not HONEST. I guess that is why it takes LAWYERS to deal with them. You need someone who thinks in convoluted ways to pin them down.
   — hubarlow

June 18, 2008
I couldn't find an affordable supplemental insurance for Medicare before I had lap band in April. It was because of age, health or what. It just doesn't make sense to me. I had lap band with medicare and I only had to pay $198.00 for the surgeon and $78.00 for the anasethic (excuse spelling) plus the hospital, day surgery rate and haven't gotten a bill yet. I am pretty healthy and I just can't believe the exclusions that they have now on any insurance policies. I know it use to not be that way....way back when...
   — dyates2948

June 19, 2008
<<<Where are their ethics??? >>> HAHAHAHAHA!!!! ROTFLMAO! Do a Google Search on insurance companies and "floating cash". They will deny a service even AFTER giving the pre-approval just to avoid paying out as long as possible. This happened to me. I got a lawyer. The insurance company did pay after 11 months.
   — MAG

June 20, 2008
Ethics, haha.... I am a nurse and have come to understand that insurance and most facilities are not in the business of taking care of people and/or making them happy... they are in business for one reason only.... to make money. Sad but true. Good luck, Dawn Vickers, RN, BLC, CLC
   — DawnVic