Joe Bayly: Our Experiences with Scamaritan

[formergothardite]

14 hours ago, AreteJo said:

There is nothing more unChristian and unBiblical than the Samaritan Health Plan.  Christians are not called to make judgements on other people's health.  The fact they will exclude so many people for smoking, obesity, etc makes a mockery of the command to do for the least of your brothers and sister.  The Samaritan never asked the guy beat up on the side of the road whether he smoked or drank, he just picked him up and nursed him back to health.  To even put the name "Samaritan" on that scam is blasphemy.

This was pointed out the the Samaritan  Ministry guy who showed up once and he refused to address that point at all. I think even they know that what they are doing is the exact opposite of what the Good Samaritan story is supposed to teach. 

[EmainMacha]

If I had to pay the equivalent of $1000 on top of my rent, childcare and commuting costs I'd barely have enough left for food! Do people's jobs pay it for them?

Also in the article it mentions that the hospital wouldn't perform the operation without knowing how the bill would be paid. Does that mean it wasn't life-saving surgery? Presumbly if the child needed the surgery to survive they would just do it? I do work in healthcare but not the US so I'm not sure how it works.

[Cleopatra7]

I wonder what the racial demographics of Scamaritan are. While there are Christians of all hues, Scamaritan touches on all the major white conservative Christian talking points: distrust of the role of government in healthcare, not wanting to pay for things you are personally opposed to, penalizing "sin."

[Rachel333]

They also don't cover mental health care at all.

[samira_catlover]

15 hours ago, countressrascal said:

I have personal experience with patients that participate in medical sharing programs, they all have unrealistic expectations of how much the bill is going to be discounted. Any provider, hospital and health care center that accepts Medicare or Medicaid can only discount the bill to that level, if you discount below that you can lose your accreditation. Period end of story. Health care clinic that I work at with my students (NP and PhD BSRN) the cash pay prices are already at Medicare/Medicaid rates so we do not discount at all, which is hard for these patients to accept. Regarding the Home Birth issue, at least in AZ NPMW (totally different from Jill the person has a BSRN then additional 2-3 yrs of training you need something more than a GED) would like to do home births and we did them until about 13 yrs ago however the medical malpractice carrier refused to cover us so we had to quit, in certain cases it is the best. Guidelines were stricter than they are now, I wish they would go back to the tougher guidelines then my life would be easier. I am going to be on call in the ER OB/GYN this weekend I will have at least three- five transfer, two of them will be VBAC and the patient will have been in labor for at least 48 hrs and they will have failure to progress and someone will be in trouble another emergency C-section will take place, father will pass out. One will be a first birth that does not progress or the fetus will flip at the last minute and refuses to go back. Other two will be postpartum issues. Then I will have a couple that show up who have not had any prenatal care and are in active labor. I am so much looking forward to the weekend. By the way if anyone wants a copy of the KJV and other bibles, we have about 100 of them that people either leave behind or send to us because we are all sinners and need to be saved, no we all have ADHD and want you and your fetus to live. Free to anyone they are going into the trash this weekend we are cleaning the lost and found this weekend, this is three months supply.

Off to call room-new residents should be fun.

 

Be glad it's not July, hon.... *sends over relaxing tea*

[smittykins]

2 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

They also don't cover mental health care at all.

No need to--you can pray it away for free! 

[Emme]

20 hours ago, slickcat79 said:

Lifestyle judgments aside, they even exclude things like known medical conditions in adopted children. Which is seriously wrong on so many levels. 

As in, they refuse to pay/allow the child in? Charming. 

3 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

They also don't cover mental health care at all.

Thats because mental health issues are obviously just caused by moral failings and lack of faith. Duh. (never mind the link between physical health, especially chronic conditions, and mental health)

[socalrules]

He seems to be shocked that some doctors don't want patients who say they are going to pay in cash. Is someone's word supposed to be enough?  What he doesn't seem to want to acknowledge is that people would like to be paid for the work they perform. It's one thing to say you will pay in cash and write a check right then. It's quite another to say you will pay later once your scam insurance has agreed to pay. What happens when scam says they won't pay? 

[16strong]

18 hours ago, grandmadugger said:

There was a period of time where I didn't have insurance, didn't qualify for state insurance, and couldn't afford private insurance.  In theory I thought Scamaritan sounded great.  I went to my pastor to get the paper signed saying I was a member in good standing.  He refused.  He worked in the medical field, he was a nurse.  He told me about the medicaid thing, and helped me find a job with insurance.  It said a lot to me when a pastor said, "UMM NO!" 

What an awesome pastor, to not only point you in the direction of Medicaid, but to help you get a new job, too.

[slickcat79]

2 hours ago, Emme said:

As in, they refuse to pay/allow the child in? Charming. 

Thats because mental health issues are obviously just caused by moral failings and lack of faith. Duh. (never mind the link between physical health, especially chronic conditions, and mental health)

They won't cover any expenses relating to a condition that the parents knew the child had before adopting him/her until the child has been symptom-free for at least 5 years (or 1 year if the condition is believed to have been "cured"). 

Oh and they totally cover mental health issues...for involuntarily-committed inpatients only 

http://samaritanministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/201510-Guidelines-monthly-updates.pdf

[Emme]

26 minutes ago, slickcat79 said:

They won't cover any expenses relating to a condition that the parents knew the child had before adopting him/her until the child has been symptom-free for at least 5 years (or 1 year if the condition is believed to have been "cured"). 

Oh and they totally cover mental health issues...for involuntarily-committed inpatients only 

http://samaritanministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/201510-Guidelines-monthly-updates.pdf

That's setting up adoption placements for failure if no one can seek mental health services. That's setting up families for failure if no one using samaritan can seek mental health services. That is so shitty. 

[Rachel333]

Well, to be fair  they'll cover mental issues that are directly linked to something physical.

Quote

29. Psychiatric Care—Inpatient psychiatric care due to involuntary commitment, and the treatment for injuries and detectable organic agents causing cognitive disabilities are publishable up to $50,000 per condition. Psychotropic medication to treat chemical imbalances not demonstrable by lab tests is not publishable except as a part of involuntary commitment. No other type of psychiatric care or services is publishable.

30. Psychological Services—Psychological services including psychophysiology are not publishable.

35. Therapy— [...]  Psychological therapies are not publishable.

So what I'm getting is that if you have some cognitive problems because you did something dumb and hit your head then it's covered (as it should be) but if you happen to have a psychiatric illness then you're on your own.

[grandmadugger]

2 hours ago, 16strong said:

What an awesome pastor, to not only point you in the direction of Medicaid, but to help you get a new job, too.

He was so awesome.  I miss him so much.  

[Jingerbread]

Quote

 

Undoubtedly limiting membership to Christians who are members in good standing in a local church, and requiring accountability to your church leaders, also keeps costs down. But there's a more basic method of keeping costs low. 

 

Most of the biggest drunks and smokers I've ever known are church-goers in good standing.  Most of the healthiest people I know are atheist, buddhist, or Mormons (who I don't think count to SM).

Quote

It's one thing to have a philosophical commitment to limited government and the doctrine of subsidiarity.

Limited just to those who want to limit my rights.  

Quote

As far as cultural and political momentum is concerned, we see it as inevitable, barring a miracle, that we will end up with a single-payer medical system in this country. 

How can people sleep at night praying that something will happen to stop people from getting life-saving medicine?

Quote

Americans simply assume that healthcare is a right

So did Jesus.  Maybe I missed the part where he demanded payment for services before healing people.

Quote

and that those who provide it should be forced to give it to them.

Right.  This is exactly why we're trying to make sure doctors and hospitals get paid for services rendered, right?

[Jingerbread]

8 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

They also don't cover mental health care at all.

Just pray the mental illness away, just like the gay.  Funny how that doesn't work for cancer, but it's got who cures and not the doctors.

[roddma]

Yipes when I google Samaritan share it says under the site"You are using an application that violates the term of internet usage".

[teachergirl]

A former coworker who quit her job to sell 'It works" wraps ( that's another story) use Samaritan. What I don't understand is they have a young son who will be 4 with no plans to have another ( I think). Her husband was military so I think they could have bought TriCare??? At any rate, I don't get it. Young kids get sick, needs vaccines, get hurt etc......You pay a monthly premimum and they don't cover anything with well baby, shots, routine exams for children. Once in a awhile she posts about how glad they are that their money went to help another family......but they don't seem to connect that they will be relying on that very same charity in case they ever needed it. why would you bank on that?

 She also isn't fundie, very religious but not fundie in any sense of the word.

[Anonymousguest]

8 hours ago, roddma said:

Yipes when I google Samaritan share it says under the site"You are using an application that violates the term of internet usage".

Weird. That sounds like a block that an employer puts on their company devices to keep employees from surfing social media during productivity hours. I looked at it and it says the same thing for me. Must be something wrong with how it returns to Google?

[desertvixen]

@Anonymousguest  I get the same result, and I'm at home with no blocks.

[grandmadugger]

12 hours ago, roddma said:

Yipes when I google Samaritan share it says under the site"You are using an application that violates the term of internet usage".

It's a return from the Google bot.  They've got something screwy in their code.

[hoipolloi]

Get the same warning but I can click into Scamaritan's website just fine.

 

[samira_catlover]

On 1/9/2016 at 6:49 PM, Rachel333 said:

Well, to be fair  they'll cover mental issues that are directly linked to something physical.

So what I'm getting is that if you have some cognitive problems because you did something dumb and hit your head then it's covered (as it should be) but if you happen to have a psychiatric illness then you're on your own.

Sorry, blew the quote, Rachel: wanted this from Scam:  29. Psychiatric Care—Inpatient psychiatric care due to involuntary commitment, and the treatment for injuries and detectable organic agents causing cognitive disabilities are publishable up to $50,000 per condition. Psychotropic medication to treat chemical imbalances not demonstrable by lab tests is not publishable except as a part of involuntary commitment. No other type of psychiatric care or services is publishable.

I've worked both in mental health (with brain trauma long-term residential care) and in nursing. Do you know how fast you can blow through $50K USD, even AFTER the patient is nice and stable??!

[slickcat79]

56 minutes ago, samira_catlover said:

Sorry, blew the quote, Rachel: wanted this from Scam:  29. Psychiatric Care—Inpatient psychiatric care due to involuntary commitment, and the treatment for injuries and detectable organic agents causing cognitive disabilities are publishable up to $50,000 per condition. Psychotropic medication to treat chemical imbalances not demonstrable by lab tests is not publishable except as a part of involuntary commitment. No other type of psychiatric care or services is publishable.

I've worked both in mental health (with brain trauma long-term residential care) and in nursing. Do you know how fast you can blow through $50K USD, even AFTER the patient is nice and stable??!

Especially if they actually are committed to a residential facility. That can mean thousands of dollars every day, depending on the level of treatment.

[August]

On 8 January 2016 at 2:57 PM, treehugger said:

Damn, I keep forgetting how expensive it is to have to pay for medical care out of pocket in the US!  As a Canadian I really don't think twice about taking the kids to the doctor.   We go if we need it.

But holy crap, Samaritan is expensive!  $405 a month!  For private health insurance that covers up to 80% of out of hospital medical expenses and dental/eye care and prescription meds and chiropractic and massages, we are paying about $150 a month, since neither of us are employed full time.  I have no idea how these families can afford Samariran at all. 

Our insurance is $650 a month, it comes in three options: employee, employee plus spouse and whole family. Every insurance we've had has these three tiers.

It pays everything of most things. Test are no copay, primary care is $10 copay, specialists are I think $30 copay. I don't think we have a deductible. There is dental, but no vision or woo coverage.

[socalrules]

I just don't understand paying for insurance that does not cover the everyday visits. For most people, they really just need preventative, cold, flu, broken foot type visits. I would rather be able to go to the doctor whenever I wanted than to have to stop and think if I am sick enough to warrant the money because my scam insurance only pays out if there is a catastrophe.