i totlly quit give up call it wht you want i quit
Question:
RE: the posts at the bottom of this note: There is an special #800 in the State of California set up by the State Insurance Commsioner to deal with complaints about substandard treatment or malpractice within HMO’s specifically. I don’t know the number myself, i’ll search for it and If I find it, I’ll post it. In the meantime, I wouls suggest your husband call the State Insurance Commisioner’s office is Sacremento or your local State Senator’s office. They’re the ones who passed the law and they should be able to help. Make sure you mention you’re a registered voter. Take this one to the State. California’s Governemnt is getting pretty darned fed up with Kaiser in particular and HMO’s in general and are cracking down on them. If you still have your sample ballot discussing the initiatives, you could contact the groups supporting the Health Care reform Initiatives that were just on the ballot. Sadly, I tossed mine. I’ll be looking for that stuff too. Take care. Li The thread goes as follows: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine no cheers of encouragement help…theyjust give me false hope. i have tried every avenue there is with the HMO, I have turned my life and medical recods over to my husbad to deal with cause I just can’t due to the pain, we contacted Kaiser to get a new doctor I tried everything and have gotten nowhere. Now I am totally alone. I feel so helpless you all have told me to get a new doctor and I have tried lord knows I have tried. I have jumped through the hoops of Kaiser and gotten not so much as a phone call or appointment with a neurologist. In fact the only thing I got was a referrel back to the doctor that I had problems with so I give up I (stubborn as Iam and in the pain that I am) will finish what few meds I have and just sit back and wait. Sooner or later no one will have to pick up an a xe i will just layhere and die (I hope) Mu advose to everyone is simply this never ever get involve at an HMO. I will be calling them at 8 sharp my time to let them know that what was once a high honoros student is now a psychiatric patient thant can not afford their help and that I am giving up on their system. I will have nothing to do with Kaiser, including getting all the meds filled (they didn’t work anyway. so I guess this is my good bye letter. There is no sense in posting anyway as I can get no help from the HMO. all your suggestions and uplifting thoughts were good and i appreciate them tryuly I do, but they got me no where. It is the system that failed me. Karen Dear Karen, It’s 3:30 p.m. (EST), Wednesday, and I’m still waiting for your e-mail. You sure didn’t make it easy to find out where abouts you live. I assume you are somewhere in Southern California, only because you indicated contacting "Kaiser", which could be Kaiser-Permanente, Woodland Hills Hospital. Am I correct? At any rate, I made several phone calls, and so far came up with one very good doctor. He is in Beverly Hills, and a Neurologist who specializes in treating H/A’s. I contacted someone at the National Headache Foundation. They are going to send me a list of H/A doctors in So. Cal.(I hope that is where you live). As soon as you e-mail me with your address, I will make sure that list is sent to you ASAP. To get you started, I will e-mail you, from the list several names of qualified physicians who CAN HELP YOU! The doctor in Bevery Hills is: David Glass, Neur. (310) 271-6522 PLEASE hang in there a little while longer. Let me do what I can to help you. I promise you there is help out there. You just havn’t found the right doctor yet, but I’m determined to get you one. If you do not live in Southern California, it would help if you told me your exact area. IF I DON’T HEAR FROM YOU SOON, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN GIRL! I am very determined and will NOT give up on you! I will wait for you response as long as I have to. Your Determined Supporter, Mary (P.S. If I have to, I will set up the appointments for you!)
Li Xian Ming
Response:
Karen, PLEASE read this. I know how you feel. 2 months ago I went off my Elavil in hopes that Prozac would help more. The pain was non stop for over a month. Last week I lost it. I thought of ending the pain for good. In a last cry for help I ended up in ER. I had a long talk with the DR on duty. Know what he did? NOTHING. I was curled up in a ball crying so hard I could hardly breath. He sat there and told me there was nothing he could do, that anything he gave me would only help for a few hours, so he wouldn’t give me anything. Then he LEFT. After crying for a while I took out all my leftover Elavil (about 25 of the 50mg) and was going to swallow them all in front of him. Then I figured they would just pump my stomach so I would do it at home. To shorten the story-my boyfriend talked me out of ending it, and today is my 3rd day of no pain. My regular Dr has me on a different drug and I start cranial therapy next week and am looking for a headache Dr. I’ve had DCH for 18 years now. It is pure hell-but-being pain-free is only one day or one phone call away. All you need is one Dr who understands and is willing to do everything to help you. I know you can find one and I know you will get better. I know how it feels when nothing works and the pain won’t go away-I bet ALL of us on this NG do. PLEASE PLEASE reach out for help in any way you possibly can. Pay for a Dr. youself if you must, do whatever you need to do. If you need any help at all or want to chat, please mail me. Any of us. Take care, Sherrie
Response:
Jonathan is right. Start keeping a journal of all the times you were turned down by your HMO. Then send all the pages about how you were turned down by your HMO doctor to the insurance commissioner in your state, documenting how you did not get the care that you need. I guarantee your HMO will BEG you to come to them and they will offer you much better treatment too. Also, did you know that you can appeal any decision that your HMO makes? All you have to do is call their administrative offices for an "appeal" form. Fill it out, send it back (keep a copy for yourself because sometimes they "mysteriously" disappear.) After you do this two or three times, costing them a bundle in administrative expenses, they find it cheaper to give you what you want. I found this out with my son who has Tourette’s syndrome. (NOW insurance on THAT is a real nightmare. And I have done all this myself in trying to get adequate treatment for him.) Another thing that I did was to write a letter to the customer service representative of the HMO. I told her that the treatment that my son got was third-rate at best and that if they did not send him to a neurologist I was going to write an article for my local paper exposing them. She was most accomodating when she found out that I was literate and could follow through on my threat. I called my congressman. He brought pressure to bear on the HMO too. I called the local medical board and filed a complaint against my HMO and my son’s doctor who would not give him a referral. I then got a neurologist on my own, (cost me a $100) and got him to write a letter stating that my son did have a neurological condition which needed ongoing treatment. He outlined the treatment. I then sent the letter to the HMO, the customer service of the HMO, the doctor, the medical board, and the insurance comissioner. I then told the HMO that I planned to sue them unless they treated my son as per the instructions of the neurologist which I had paid. I also demanded that they pay for that neurologist since they had breached contract and not provided one for treatment and diagnosis of his medical condition. They paid for it too, all but the $20 deductible. I did it all without a lawyer, though I did not tell them that. I learned that if you make them uncomfortable enough, and bring enough pressure to bear, subject them to investigation from several sides at once, you are much more likely to get what you need. I know that you are demoralized, miserable, frustrated and in pain. Give yourself some time to gather your strength. But when you do, you might want to follow some of these suggestions. Now when I call the HMO and the doctor, they jump. They know that I can cause them to be very uncomfortable if they try to brush me off as they do so many people who are less assertive. I have not always been assertive. I used to be very shy. But I learned to be assertive in defense of my family’s health. If you MUST do it, you can. Here in my town we have a local TV station which has a program called "call for help." They love to investigate these things and to expose these el-cheapo HMO’s. They were next on my list if my other approaches did not work. Sometimes I think I would have got faster results if I had pursued the TV thing first. Perhaps your town has something similar. Don’t let the HMO bully you. There are forces far more powerful than them and you only need to tap into them. I’ll help if I can, and I bet there are a lot of other people in this group who would too. You can’t give up. Your pain will drive you to action sooner or later. Until then, I pray for your relief from pain. I pray that you will have the strength to fight for yourself and your right to feel healthy. Sincerely, Jordanne says… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -no cheers of encouragement help…theyjust give me false hope. i have tried every avenue there is with the HMO, I have turned my life and medical recods over to my husbad to deal with cause I just can’t due to the pain, we contacted Kaiser to get a new doctor I tried everything and have gotten nowhere. Now I am totally alone. I feel so helpless you all have told me to get a new doctor and I have tried lord knows I have tried. I have jumped through the hoops of Kaiser and gotten not so much as a phone call or appointment with a neurologist. In fact the only thing I got was a referrel back to the doctor that I had problems with so I give up I (stubborn as Iam and in the pain that I am) will finish what few meds I have and just sit back and wait. Sooner or later no one will have to pick up an a xe i will just layhere and die (I hope) Mu advose to everyone is simply this never ever get involve at an HMO. I will be calling them at 8 sharp my time to let them know that what was once a high honoros student is now a psychiatric patient thant can not afford their help and that I am giving up on their system. I will have nothing to do with Kaiser, including getting all the meds filled (they didn’t work anyway. so I guess this is my good bye letter. There is no sense in posting anyway as I can get no help from the HMO. all your suggestions and uplifting thoughts were good and i appreciate them tryuly I do, but they got me no where. It is the system that failed me. Karen
Response:
Karen, please don’t give up. I felt the same way before they approved imitrex. I’m not saying that imitrex or anything else that is available today is your answer. Tommorrow might be a different day. I remember someone suggesting that you seek treatment for your depression. If your Primary Care Physician isn’t taking care of all of your medical needs – change him. In the mean time, if you have an Ob/Gyn doctor you can talk to, try to explain the situation to a nurse there. Sorry, but IMHO women are more ready to go the extra mile in such circumstances. You need to get a handle on this in order to help treat your migraines and pain. Anti-depressants may also help to reduce the number and severity of your headaches. I would be glad continue this discussion with you by e-mail. God Bless You, Pat Di Ianni – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – no cheers of encouragement help…theyjust give me false hope. i have tried every avenue there is with the HMO, I have turned my life and medical recods over to my husbad to deal with cause I just can’t due to the pain, we contacted Kaiser to get a new doctor I tried everything and have gotten nowhere. Now I am totally alone. I feel so helpless you all have told me to get a new doctor and I have tried lord knows I have tried. I have jumped through the hoops of Kaiser and gotten not so much as a phone call or appointment with a neurologist. In fact the only thing I got was a referrel back to the doctor that I had problems with so I give up I (stubborn as Iam and in the pain that I am) will finish what few meds I have and just sit back and wait. Sooner or later no one will have to pick up an a xe i will just layhere and die (I hope) Mu advose to everyone is simply this never ever get involve at an HMO. I will be calling them at 8 sharp my time to let them know that what was once a high honoros student is now a psychiatric patient thant can not afford their help and that I am giving up on their system. I will have nothing to do with Kaiser, including getting all the meds filled (they didn’t work anyway. so I guess this is my good bye letter. There is no sense in posting anyway as I can get no help from the HMO. all your suggestions and uplifting thoughts were good and i appreciate them tryuly I do, but they got me no where. It is the system that failed me. Karen
Response:
Mary, Karen’s service provider is in Galt, CA (916 area code), which also services areas such as Lodi, Sacramento, Elk Grove, Carmichael, etc. So, northern CA would be much better than southern CA. there addressed to him will get some response. He likes his noisy pipe bike — I sure hope for Karen’s sake she does not have to ride to the doctor on the back of a noisy bike with a HA! And Karen, if you are reading this, there are a lot of people here willing and able to help you. All you have to do is just contact them – for your OWN sake! Charity
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – no cheers of encouragement help…theyjust give me false hope. i have tried every avenue there is with the HMO, I have turned my life and medical recods over to my husbad to deal with cause I just can’t due to the pain, we contacted Kaiser to get a new doctor I tried everything and have gotten nowhere. Now I am totally alone. I feel so helpless you all have told me to get a new doctor and I have tried lord knows I have tried. I have jumped through the hoops of Kaiser and gotten not so much as a phone call or appointment with a neurologist. In fact the only thing I got was a referrel back to the doctor that I had problems with so I give up I (stubborn as Iam and in the pain that I am) will finish what few meds I have and just sit back and wait. Sooner or later no one will have to pick up an a xe i will just layhere and die (I hope) Mu advose to everyone is simply this never ever get involve at an HMO. I will be calling them at 8 sharp my time to let them know that what was once a high honoros student is now a psychiatric patient thant can not afford their help and that I am giving up on their system. I will have nothing to do with Kaiser, including getting all the meds filled (they didn’t work anyway. so I guess this is my good bye letter. There is no sense in posting anyway as I can get no help from the HMO. all your suggestions and uplifting thoughts were good and i appreciate them tryuly I do, but they got me no where. It is the system that failed me. Karen
Karen, OK, now I’m mad as hell. There IS help for you out there, but you many of the so-called professionals are driving you into a deep depression. Don’t give up. You have not failed—they have. You have to keep on fighting;don’t let the SOB’S win. Surely, there must be other doctors in your area, who specialize in H/A’s. I have had to fight throughout my entire headache career, and that is what has kept me alive. This is not a pep-talk. Get Marty to physically go to Kaiser, and demand some satisfaction! If the HMO is the problem getting help, make an appointment with anyone qualified, and set up a payment plan. As little as $10 a month will satisfy most billing clerks at offices. Giving up because of an HMO is not acceptable. Think about it! You may have a $200 doctor bill hanging over your head, but it’s better that the $4,000 it will cost to bury you. Put things into perspective. PLEASE e-mail me. Tell me what area you live in. I can make some phone calls, and maybe find some specialists near you who would be willing to help. Sometimes, we get so low, dealing with phone calls, medications and doctors is too much for us. PLEASE let someone help you out. You can’t do it on your own right now. I anticipate your e-mail, and will do my best to get you someone who will help. I PROMISE! Now you must promise to wait before making any life-altering decisions. Mary
Response:
(Marty&Karen) writes: no cheers of encouragement help…theyjust give me false hope.
Marty and Karen, There is no such thing as "false hope" Unfullfilled hope is just that, unfullfilled, to date. Even unfullfilled hope is better physically than no hope at all. I have confidence that there either is some drug treatment that will now work, or there will be one in the future. The problem seems to be beating the system to allow you to partake in the best that medical science has to offer. i have tried every avenue there is with the HMO, I have turned my life and medical recods over to my husbad to deal with cause I just can’t due to the pain, we contacted Kaiser to get a new doctor I tried everything and have gotten nowhere. Now I am totally alone.
You may think you are alone but you are not. There are people willing to help you and fight for you. Let’s try to identify them and get them working for you. I feel so helpless you all have told me to get a new doctor and I have tried lord knows I have tried. I have jumped through the hoops of Kaiser and gotten not so much as a phone call or appointment with a neurologist. In fact the only thing I got was a referrel back to the doctor that I had problems with so I give up I (stubborn as Iam and in the pain that I am) will finish what few meds I have and just sit back and wait. Sooner or later no one will have to pick up an a xe i will just layhere and die (I hope) Mu advose to everyone is simply this never ever get involve at an HMO. I will be calling them at 8 sharp my time to let them know that what was once a high honoros student is now a psychiatric patient thant can not afford their help and that I am giving up on their system. I will have nothing to do with Kaiser, including getting all the meds filled (they didn’t work anyway.
This old doc is probably one guy that could refer you to a neuro. Maybe one more trip to him, or a call to his office could get a referral. If he won’t, sit in his office with a sign around your neck that says " this doctor treats people that he is not qualified to treat, just for the $$" He will either call the neuro or the police. If you get arrested, the "system" will probably treat you for free!!! ( it might be fun too!! ) so I guess this is my good bye letter. There is no sense in posting anyway as I can get no help from the HMO.
We won’t take goodby. And you better be reading this too!!! all your suggestions and uplifting thoughts were good and i appreciate them tryuly I do, but they got me no where. It is the system that failed me.
Failed you to date!!! There is no "unbreakable system" In the last year, several people have expressed terrible problems with Kaiser. Maybe someone here can lend a hand on how to *buck* the system. Marty, is this through your work??? Can you discuss this with your personnel dept? Is there a grievance system set up? I haven’t been on an HMO in 20 years and don’t remember all the details, but there should be a way. Call or fax your Congressman!!! Go to the emergency room. Maybe a Neuro can see you there or maybe they will refer you!! Maybe there is a *study* going on that you can get into. ? anyone out there know of one?? Try your county health department, or state health agencies. If they can’t help you, maybe they can tell you how to get your HMO to help. Call your State Insurance Board and file a complaint. The state boards, by law, must deal with complaints!!! Can you * opt out* of kaiser and go with a different plan??? Call a lawyer!!!!! If this plan is through a union, call your union rep. Call the National Institute of Health – 301-496-2433 Call The National Labor Relations Board 202-254-9200 Call Public Health Service 202-690-7694 Apply for disability with the Social Security Admin. If they won’t grant it, maybe they will point you in the right direction.Call Hillary Clinton 202-456-6266 I will discuss this with my doc when I see him. Time for drastic action. We’re gonna keep worrying about you whether you like it or not. keep us posted Bob
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – no cheers of encouragement help…theyjust give me false hope. i have tried every avenue there is with the HMO, I have turned my life and medical recods over to my husbad to deal with cause I just can’t due to the pain, we contacted Kaiser to get a new doctor I tried everything and have gotten nowhere. Now I am totally alone. I feel so helpless you all have told me to get a new doctor and I have tried lord knows I have tried. I have jumped through the hoops of Kaiser and gotten not so much as a phone call or appointment with a neurologist. In fact the only thing I got was a referrel back to the doctor that I had problems with so I give up I (stubborn as Iam and in the pain that I am) will finish what few meds I have and just sit back and wait. Sooner or later no one will have to pick up an a xe i will just layhere and die (I hope) Mu advose to everyone is simply this never ever get involve at an HMO. I will be calling them at 8 sharp my time to let them know that what was once a high honoros student is now a psychiatric patient thant can not afford their help and that I am giving up on their system. I will have nothing to do with Kaiser, including getting all the meds filled (they didn’t work anyway. so I guess this is my good bye letter. There is no sense in posting anyway as I can get no help from the HMO. all your suggestions and uplifting thoughts were good and i appreciate them tryuly I do, but they got me no where. It is the system that failed me. Karen
Dear Karen, It’s 3:30 p.m. (EST), Wednesday, and I’m still waiting for your e-mail. You sure didn’t make it easy to find out where abouts you live. I assume you are somewhere in Southern California, only because you indicated contacting "Kaiser", which could be Kaiser-Permanente, Woodland Hills Hospital. Am I correct? At any rate, I made several phone calls, and so far came up with one very good doctor. He is in Beverly Hills, and a Neurologist who specializes in treating H/A’s. I contacted someone at the National Headache Foundation. They are going to send me a list of H/A doctors in So. Cal.(I hope that is where you live). As soon as you e-mail me with your address, I will make sure that list is sent to you ASAP. To get you started, I will e-mail you, from the list several names of qualified physicians who CAN HELP YOU! The doctor in Bevery Hills is: David Glass, Neur. (310) 271-6522 PLEASE hang in there a little while longer. Let me do what I can to help you. I promise you there is help out there. You just havn’t found the right doctor yet, but I’m determined to get you one. If you do not live in Southern California, it would help if you told me your exact area. IF I DON’T HEAR FROM YOU SOON, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN GIRL! I am very determined and will NOT give up on you! I will wait for you response as long as I have to. Your Determined Supporter, Mary (P.S. If I have to, I will set up the appointments for you!)
Response:
Karen and Marty I give up too. I will not sit quietly and watch this happen. I am really concerned about what this stress is doing to both of you. Please send me a private email with your telephone number. I would like to talk with you so that we could strategize for both short term and long term outcomes. My first instinct is to pound the hell out of the HMO and raise such a ruckus… But I know that this will increase your stress and it wouldn’t necessarily solve a single problem. I have a lot of experience as an advocate and I think I can help. I also have some networking ideas. I don’t mind paying for a few phone calls to see if we can’t make some progress. Debby
Response:
no cheers of encouragement help…theyjust give me false hope. i have tried every avenue there is with the HMO, I have turned my life and medical recods over to my husbad to deal with cause I just can’t due to the pain, we contacted Kaiser to get a new doctor I tried everything and have gotten nowhere. Now I am totally alone. I feel so helpless you all have told me to get a new doctor and I have tried lord knows I have tried. I have jumped through the hoops of Kaiser and gotten not so much as a phone call or appointment with a neurologist. In fact the only thing I got was a referrel back to the doctor that I had problems with so I give up
balance snipped…. 1. have you thought about going out of plan and seeing a neurologist on your own….I understand about money, having none to speak of myself, but doc’s don’t get up front retainers like lawyers do, and I’ve found that most are reasonable about payment plans. (they have little choice, once you’ve already seen them 
I know it’s hard to deal with, but you’re probably not gonna die just from the headache (we only wish that would happen, but luck never runs that way) 2. Maybe consider getting a lawyer to harass them into action, I know a man in my area just won a million dollar suit against a local HMO because they did not treat his son properly for depression and he killed himself ( the son had kept a journal detailing all the times he was refused treatment ) My thoughts are with you in any event, no headache today, and it seems odd, but then it’s only 10:30 am here….. Jonathan
Response:
no cheers of encouragement help…theyjust give me false hope. i have tried every avenue there is with the HMO, I have turned my life and medical recods over to my husbad to deal with cause I just can’t due to the pain, we contacted Kaiser to get a new doctor I tried everything and have gotten nowhere. Now I am totally alone. I feel so helpless you all have told me to get a new doctor and I have tried lord knows I have tried. I have jumped through the hoops of Kaiser and gotten not so much as a phone call or appointment with a neurologist. In fact the only thing I got was a referrel back to the doctor that I had problems with so I give up I (stubborn as Iam and in the pain that I am) will finish what few meds I have and just sit back and wait. Sooner or later no one will have to pick up an a xe i will just layhere and die (I hope) Mu advose to everyone is simply this never ever get involve at an HMO. I will be calling them at 8 sharp my time to let them know that what was once a high honoros student is now a psychiatric patient thant can not afford their help and that I am giving up on their system. I will have nothing to do with Kaiser, including getting all the meds filled (they didn’t work anyway. so I guess this is my good bye letter. There is no sense in posting anyway as I can get no help from the HMO. all your suggestions and uplifting thoughts were good and i appreciate them tryuly I do, but they got me no where. It is the system that failed me. Karen
