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Affordable Care Act ?

Fire Fairy

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Fire Fairy Enthusiast
Fire Fairy
Posted

Does anyone know what the Affordable Care Act will mean for un-diagnosed Celiacs like me? I am a bit afraid the Affordable Care Act will require that I go to a Dr. And when I tell him/her I'm a Celiac (without a diagnoses) what will he/she do? Will they make me be tested? If they do I'll have to go back on gluten? I've been gluten free 2 and half years and I know if I have to go back to eating gluten to be tested I won't be able to function. My work has started having strict absentee policies so if I was out sick several days I'd be fired. My workplace seems to be making it harder on the old timers because they are moving towards having as few regular employees as possible. They now only hire temps. I'm guessing this is to dodge healthcare increases when the Affordable Care Act starts. :(

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Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted

Fire Fairy.....the only thing that will happen with this health care change is that they require you to have insurance (crazy) but if you have an existing health care plan now and a doctor, you should still be able to see them as before.  No one can force you to undergo testing for anything and it would only matter if you really wanted an official diagnosis yourself.  You have been gluten-free for awhile and are comfortable with it, it seems, so you just need to tell them that you eat gluten-free and that's the end of it.  Unless you decide other wise, you are not going to eat gluten again.  Who knows?  Maybe if you discuss it with them, they will render a diagnosis based on other things, like health improvement after going gluten-free.  It might be that they diagnose you with NCGI, but it's really the same thing as Celiac. I wouldn't worry about it.

notme Experienced
notme
Posted

eating gluten-free doesn't require a prescription.  and other 'treatable' <billable) things have cleared up.  the only reason i have been to my g.p. is to monitor my blood pressure, which i have a 'script for, and they check my blood once or twice a year because i'm old.  i figure the insurance company is saving a bunch on me :)

 

what have you been doing up until now?  if it ain't broke, don't fix it ?

 

and, i have noticed a trend in temp workers :(  my son's girlfriend had to fight like crazy to get permanent status so she could get insurance, even though they planned to keep her forever as a temp.  

Fire Fairy Enthusiast
Fire Fairy
Posted
  • Author

Fire Fairy.....the only thing that will happen with this health care change is that they require you to have insurance (crazy) but if you have an existing health care plan now and a doctor, you should still be able to see them as before.  No one can force you to undergo testing for anything and it would only matter if you really wanted an official diagnosis yourself.  You have been gluten-free for awhile and are comfortable with it, it seems, so you just need to tell them that you eat gluten-free and that's the end of it.  Unless you decide other wise, you are not going to eat gluten again.  Who knows?  Maybe if you discuss it with them, they will render a diagnosis based on other things, like health improvement after going gluten-free.  It might be that they diagnose you with NCGI, but it's really the same thing as Celiac. I wouldn't worry about it.

I have no insurance and have not been back to the Dr in 2 years. I totally don't want any invasive tests unless they are 100% necessary and as I feel certain I have Celiac I see no need for the tests. I was just worried as it seems like at one point I had read that women over a certain age would be required to have mammograms and if they can/could force us to do that they could force us to do other things.  This new healthcare thing is kind of scary in that most of us don't have a clue what is going on. I hear wonderful things about it and I hear horrible things about it. I can only pray it's somewhere in the middle.

seezee Explorer
seezee
Posted

It sounds like you have some misinformation about the affordable care act. Try to find something from a more credilble source. I am not sure what source you might like but the american medical association has information both positive and negative.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

. I was just worried as it seems like at one point I had read that women over a certain age would be required to have mammograms and if they can/could force us to do that they could force us to do other things. 

 

 

I think you may have misunderstood.  Perhaps it is mandatory that insurance pay for the mammograms?  I don't see them sending out the police to round everyone up who didn't get a mammogram.

frieze Community Regular
frieze
Posted

I think you may have misunderstood.  Perhaps it is mandatory that insurance pay for the mammograms?  I don't see them sending out the police to round everyone up who didn't get a mammogram.

perhaps not.  But might they deny care for advanced breast cancer      when eventually found, if the mamo was declined?  you  know, the carrot and the stick?  what about persons pursuing alternative care for their children?  would they be sanctioned?  interesting thought.

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Fire Fairy Enthusiast
Fire Fairy
Posted
  • Author

I've heard so much from so many sources I can't keep any of it straight. My BFF being the loudest source. She went to a lecture on the affordable care act and apparently it is the best thing ever, with absolutely no draw backs. (which I think is impossible especially since things are already changing at my work as a result of the act) She thinks that I am lucky because I'm poor so I'll have all the medical care I could possibly need. She also thinks that I am in mortal danger because I watch Fox News. I'm totally fine with her not liking Fox, not watching Fox, disagreeing with Fox but seriously she seems to be scared for my soul. It's really somewhere between funny and disturbing to hear her talk about Fox. They aren't my only news source by any means. I happen to find them more enjoyable than any other TV news station. It's not Fox's fault all I can hear in my head is "Soyent Green is People" I blame Charlton Heston and Open Original Shared Link. ;)

 

perhaps not.  But might they deny care for advanced breast cancer      when eventually found, if the mamo was declined?  you  know, the carrot and the stick?  what about persons pursuing alternative care for their children?  would they be sanctioned?  interesting thought.

That is sort of thing I worry about. I don't want to go to a DR unless it's necessary, so if I don't go to my annuals and one day I come in and have something going wrong what will they do? I'd rather treat with herbs and health food than drugs. Sigh I just really find this scary. I know someone whose read a complete copy of the Affordable Care Act. If you ask him what he thinks about it he just puts his head down and shakes his head. Maybe I need to get a copy, not sure I'd be able to decipher it if I had it.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

perhaps not.  But might they deny care for advanced breast cancer      when eventually found, if the mamo was declined?  you  know, the carrot and the stick?  what about persons pursuing alternative care for their children?  would they be sanctioned?  interesting thought.

If that is what I thought the Affordable Care Act was about, I would want to read some reliable sources about it as was suggested above. And if i still believed it is about rounding people up and forcing medical treatment on them or denying people treatment because they didn't get something checked out within some " standard time frame", I would be writing to my reps and senators and Supreme Court Judges and telling everyone I could to do the same.

Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted

I've heard so much from so many sources I can't keep any of it straight. My BFF being the loudest source. She went to a lecture on the affordable care act and apparently it is the best thing ever, with absolutely no draw backs. (which I think is impossible especially since things are already changing at my work as a result of the act) She thinks that I am lucky because I'm poor so I'll have all the medical care I could possibly need. She also thinks that I am in mortal danger because I watch Fox News. I'm totally fine with her not liking Fox, not watching Fox, disagreeing with Fox but seriously she seems to be scared for my soul. It's really somewhere between funny and disturbing to hear her talk about Fox. They aren't my only news source by any means. I happen to find them more enjoyable than any other TV news station. It's not Fox's fault all I can hear in my head is "Soyent Green is People" I blame Charlton Heston and Open Original Shared Link. ;)

 

That is sort of thing I worry about. I don't want to go to a DR unless it's necessary, so if I don't go to my annuals and one day I come in and have something going wrong what will they do? I'd rather treat with herbs and health food than drugs. Sigh I just really find this scary. I know someone whose read a complete copy of the Affordable Care Act. If you ask him what he thinks about it he just puts his head down and shakes his head. Maybe I need to get a copy, not sure I'd be able to decipher it if I had it.

To be honest, I do not watch mainstream news because they are a pack of amateurs.  Walter Cronkite, they ain't!  ;)  If I watch news at all when something happens, it's Fox so we are alike in that matter.  :)

 

I think it depends on what you hear from what source will clue you in as to what they want you to hear about ObamaCare.  I have to tread carefully here because health care has become politisized and I really do not want to offend any of my friends here....and I think of all of you as friends.  But health care will change dramatically and it really won't be "affordable" either. It barely is now to many.

 

I do agree on your method of using physicians.  I go to one about every 3 years because that's as long as she'll let me go without a visit and not be pissed at me.  The recommendations for a check-up are 1-3 years, depending on your health and issues.  I may have 4 AI diseases but manage them well and am pretty asymptomatic, at this point.  I exercise like clockwork, even when I am not feeling my best.  It helps tremendously.  I think Americans go to the doctors too much and this is why costs are soaring.  Why do you need a specialist for every organ?

 

I also think doctors do too many tests.  If you do not have a strong family history of something, then the need for a test is not as great as those who have problems/symptoms or family history.  I do not do mammograms and have never had one.  I think they are nuts to make women squish their breats flat and then irradiate them.  :blink:   I have chosen thermography as a screening tool, which my doctor accepts.  Most mainstream MD's will not tell women about this option because....well...it was not invented by the AMA and they have a lot of mammo machines to pay for.  Ditto for colonoscopies....they are overprescribed and cost a fortune.  I think this is all about choice and no doctor can make anyone do anything.  If you have a problem and refuse, that's a different story but if you are basically healthy, I'd like to see someone tell me that I "had" to have one. 

 

I have read portions of Obamacare and I agree with your friend on what this means...the one that was shaking his head.  I won't say too much more as it's too political but it will change medicine in this country and how it's done now.  There is only one way to save money and make something "affordable"....you figure it out.  I have fears about the future also but for now, I can't drive my BP up worrying about it.  I have a good doctor, insurance for the time being, and I am doing everything I can to remain as healthy as I can and hope that it will make the difference when I get older than I am already now.  Cause I am not going to live at the doctors office and I am not going to bankrupt my husband if I do get sick down the road.  I'll die first.

seezee Explorer
seezee
Posted

My thought is that cable news is really entertainment. Of course fox or msnbc has some truth but both stations seem very slanted and give partial truth. The more scandal the better. The internet has a lot of misinformation too. In Massachusetts where I live we've had what used to be called Romney Care that the affordable care act is based on. It means everyone must have insurance - when you fill out your state taxes you either pay a small fine or there's a form your health insurer sends that you enter when you file state taxes. I believe it's been pretty successful and something Mitt Romney probably should be proud of. It means that in MA your insurance can no longer be cancelled while your in the ambulance on the way to the hospital as is what happened to our neighbor's son before Romney care. I think it also means that hospitals can not hound you if you don't pay. If you do an internet search on Romney Care there are tons of articles both positive and negative from the last election. None of us can control exactly if we get in an accident or get some disease that cost millions to treat.

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