LymeNet Flash: My LLMD says the IDSA issue is really an insurance co issue

This is topic My LLMD says the IDSA issue is really an insurance co issue in forum Activism at LymeNet Flash.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/8/1576

Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :

Hi everyone,

My LLMD told me that he doesn't think the root of the controversy is really about long term antibiotics...it's about insurance companies not wanting to reimburse Dr's and patients for long term treatment.

If insurance companies would reimburse, I bet Dr's would provide the Rx.

Of course, it's like...what needs to come first? the IDSA saying that long term Rx is necessary, or insurance co's expanding their policies for reimbursement?

My LLMD said to remember that Dr's have been prescribing long term (5 years) antibiotics for years for acne.

He made a very good point.

Maybe alot of pressure should also be directed to insurance companies

Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :

dek, good point.

however, unless we get the CDC to change their online site saying they recoginize IDSA's 06 lyme guidelines; that's how the insurance companies GOT OUT OF REIMBURSING OUR DRS/TREATMENTS/LABS/MEDS, ETC.

that's the way i have understood it anyway; i may be wrong, and please correct me if i am...thanks!

Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :

BG said.. "unless we get the CDC to change their online site saying they recoginize IDSA's 06 lyme guidelines.."

Go look at the site now BG. You'll like it.

Hard work by those in the background has finally paid off... and it was a tuff one!

Also it is another example of how the plans behind the scenes are made to feed off each other. Never is just ONE thing being worked on for us. It is a bunch of things always ongoing.

Anyhow...

The CDC has finally removed their endorsement of the IDSA guidelines!

They also .. to the dismay of the IDSA... added a disclaimer to the effect the IDSA guidelines are not part of what the CDC endorses... blah blah blah.

And they slung the guidelines off their site and stuck them on a separate link.

So they are no longer directly on the CDC site! YIPPEE!!!

I heard the IDSA (the boys with the stinky pants) are NOT happy!

HA!

Three cheers for those who worked hard to get 'er done!

[Big Grin]

Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :

D said..

"Maybe alot of pressure should also be directed to insurance companies."

I agree! The whole system stinks in my opinion. BUT.. the fight is overwhelming to ay the least.

Picture the Atlantic Ocean.

Now picture a grain of sand.

Guess which one we are?

This isn't even a case of one day being the windshield and one day being the bug.

If we wiped all insurance off the planet.. the planet would collapse.

BUT.. we do keep going with the chip chip here, chip chip there routine.

Some we get help for... some we can't.

That is one reason why we need many many more advocates working together toward a unified goal.

There are ENORMOUS odds stacked against us... TONS of money behind those fighting us... and CORRUPTION amungo!

But we won't go away!

[Big Grin]

Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :

Thanks for your replies! I totally agree, it seems like an overwhelming fight with the insurance co's.

I believe however that change is possible. Too bad we don't have a celebrity spokesperson to bring attention to our plight.

Posted by abigail (Member # 14936) on :

Doctors in general are not prescribing abx. This is because abx breed resistant bugs. By not prescribing abx, the population of resistant bugs decreases (they know all this.) Abx are now to be reserved for only those who will die without them. Of course, I think, this is us, so I don't know what their freaking problem is. Perhaps knowing that prescribing abx is a bad thing in today's bacterial climate, they have decided that we're better off dead as far as the whole is concerned.

Posted by mushroomman06 (Member # 13088) on :

We are only a number! A massive number.

If only we could mass.

Someday

Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :

tc, yes, i'll have to check that out!!! YIPPEE!

did this just occur as no one has said anything here about this MAJOR VICTORY for chroinc lyme patients!!

THANKS TO ALL THE BEHIND PEOPLE WHO TOOK ON THIS MONUMENTAL TASK TO GET CDC TO CHANGE THEIR SITE!!

yes, now it's time to fight the insurance companies since they used CDC to refuse reimbursements to us! [toilet]

Posted by adamm (Member # 11910) on :

I see it differently. When treatment is withheld, the insurance companies, on the whole, wind up paying much more in the coverage of meds for MS, ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Schizophrenia , Bi-Polar DIsorder, ADD, Fibro, CFS, Thyroid Disorders, etc.

I think the coverup is more likely related to this:

lyme-rage.info

[ 02-25-2009, 03:56 PM: Message edited by: adamm ]

Posted by Need Lots of Help (Member # 18603) on :

But, they will give antiboitics to cows and chickens we eat, so we still get them indirectly.

So, really they are only with-holding them when we are really sick.

Adaamm, I agree that they pay more in the long term, but it is all about saving a few dollars today. They pay the insurance reps. money and bonuses for "not paying" claims.

The less claims they pay, they more bonus money they get.

Anyways, I get really upset when I think of how long I have been sick and how much money they could have saved over the last 28 years.....

Cheers,
Shalome