Ceremony Music...

lalaith50

Elisabeth- I used the word "fertility" loosely. If it's connected to your monthly cycle, then I would say it's connected to your fertility. Especially, since chances are, if you ever want to TTC, that there is a good chance the problems you have when not on BC may negatively affect that.

ElisabethJoanne

As I said, I read about this for decades. I weighed the pros and cons. I discussed it with 3 competent doctors. (Maybe more. I have lots of easy access to medical advice, and we're talking about a long time.)

Honestly, not being able to conceive would be something I'm fine with. And, yeah, my problems would interfere with TTC. If I ever TTC, I'll deal with it then, if possible. For now, I have a safe, highly effective treatment.

Regardless, after all my reading, lots from Catholic doctors, all my discussions, most with devout Catholics, all my experiences, I disagree with your assessment of my "chances" about anything to do with my body.

mica178

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_ceremony-music-6?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:a5406239-28da-4a2c-ba77-362d03169d25Post:5549e5c7-4060-4bf8-b992-a5576d4e2169">Re: Ceremony Music...</a>:
[QUOTE]Also - the costs of healthcare are absurdly inflated. This is because there is nothing preventing them from increasing year after year. Doctors/hospitals aren't forced to be competitive. If you bring in a free-market, they will come back down to earth, making it much more affordable than you think. Posted by Riss91<div>
</div><div> Just to keep things in perspective, healthcare for the uninsured is expensive because the drugs and machines are very expensive,  the reimbursements from insurance companies are often very low and losing the hospital or pharmacy money, and healthcare professionals are several hundred thousand dollars in debt from their education and deserve proper reimbursement for their expertise and care of patients.  
Posted by amartell[/QUOTE]

<div>To add to this, doctors and hospitals are competitive with each other for contracts with insurance companies.  They compete with other doctors and hospitals to get paid less per patient or proceduce in exchange for the insurance company sending them more patients and procedures.  They just aren't competitive with patients, since patients rarely pay directly for their healthcare.</div><div>
</div><div>Most people are woefully ignorant of how healthcare economics work and where our healthcare dollars go.</div><div>
</div><div>For example: come see me in my dementia clinic.  Medicare will pay me less than $100 for an hour appointment.  But they pay $5000 for the MRI of the brain (I get no cut of this -- it goes to the radiologist and the people who own and run the machine) and $400/month for the medications (and that amount goes to the pharmacy and drug company).  Of all those costs, the patient is aware of his/her $10 copay to see me, $75 copay for the medications, and probably 20% of the radiology bill.  That's it.  Let me tell you that this particular specialist is hardly gouging the system, especially since I try to dissuade my patients from getting the MRI or medications if I don't think they are necessary.  Patients have crazy ideas that they need them to make their doctor visit with me worthwhile.</div><div>
</div><div>Or another example.  H had appendicitis soon after we married.  The total bill was $40,000 for the 24 hour hospital evaluation and treatment (although insurance didn't pay the full amount because of negotiations between the company and the hospital group and the physician's group, I think the total reimbursed amount was closer to $30,000).  The surgeon billed $6,000.  H was only given generic medications, so his total medication cost could not have been more than a few hundred dollars. Where did the other $33,000+ go?  </div><div>
</div><div>But also, because of my awesome health insurance (back then, sadly, not now), we paid $0 for H's hospitalization.  Think about all the other people with employer-provided healthcare who believe that healthcare is free?  It's not.  Someone paid for it.  </div></div>

ElisabethJoanne

mica's got the economics right.

I once represented the family of a woman who died in a car accident. She was on life support for a week and had at least one surgery between the accident and her death, so LOTS of healthcare.

Before the hospitals knew she had any insurance or anything, they sent the family bills over $100,000. Once they found out about the insurance, the insurance company got billed like 30% or 40% of that.

Right there, the hospital "lost" 60% because it negotiated a different rate with the insurance company than the hospital would charge someone paying cash. Just as mica describes.

Turns out, the insurance plan was with Medicare. Medicare reimbursed the insurance company for some fairly high percentage of what the insurance company paid.

So we started at $100,000. Insurance negotiations got it to $40,000. Medicare reimbursement rates got it to $35,000 or so, with the insurance company truly eating the difference. [Of course, the insurance company makes this up in premiums from other subscribers.] This could as easily have been pennies on the dollar for the insurance company, too, though, if the patient had required different care, as mica describes. Medicare reimburses fairly well, though, for surgeries and certain emergency care, as opposed to preventative or routine care.

Then, we lawyers negotiated with Medicare, and got them to cut 50-80% of Medicare's bill.

So, what started at $100,000 if this patient had had 0 insurance, eventually her family was only out about $17,000.

lalaith50

[QUOTE] Fan of Fr Z?
Posted by TXKristan[/QUOTE]
There's more than a couple on here... ;-)