Comments on: The High Cost of Free Checkups https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/ Everything you always wanted to know about the Health Care system. But were afraid to ask. Thu, 01 Dec 2022 20:29:34 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.4 By: Al Lewis https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-724569 Fri, 27 Feb 2015 17:59:17 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-724569 It’s definitely there. Preventive services and checkups are two different issues. There are nuances and loopholes, like if a checkup finds something under some circumstances it’s not a “preventive” visit.

You’ll have to find it on your own, though — I unfortunately have to get back to my day job.

]]> By: Christian https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-724567 Fri, 27 Feb 2015 17:37:20 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-724567 Just following up on my query above. Where in the ACA does it require that annual checkups or annual physicals be covered? I keep seeing this claim but I can’t find the basis in the law. I know certain preventive services must be covered for adults, but isn’t that different than the idea of the annual checkup this article references?

]]> By: Christian https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-723812 Tue, 24 Feb 2015 06:58:01 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-723812 Hi all, I’m really confused and was hoping someone could clear this up for me. I work as a content marketer and produce content aimed at helping people understand health insurance and the affordable care act. I’m well aware that the ACA entitles women and children to annual “wellness visits,” comprised of certain named preventive services, but I’ve also been constantly told the equivalent doesn’t exist for men. There’s no ACA provision that says men are entitled to an “annual checkup” or “annual physical” despite wide reporting of this to be the case. I’m sure I’m missing something, can anyone help to clear this up? Where does the ACA require that annual “wellness” checkups or physicals be covered without copays of deductibles?

]]> By: Al Lewis https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-723662 Mon, 23 Feb 2015 17:33:46 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-723662 Here is the list of all the media who aren’t paying any attention to us (not yet updated for the last 4 articles to come in) http://www.dismgmt.com/in-the-news

I guess the reason we are still in business is that we aren’t making any money doing this?

PS The way laws change is that people advocate for change. It doesn’t happen automatically…

]]> By: civisisus https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-723644 Mon, 23 Feb 2015 15:22:29 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-723644 Al, why has no one yet pointed out to you that ACA is a) new and b) people often do not do things they should do because of ‘barriers’ like cost that aren’t REALLY barriers but that are treated as barriers, because, well, just because (I’m not a fan of “free”, either; I’m just not as disingenuous as you or Vic are).

I don’t know about anyone else, but I fully expect ACA to evolve as people get used to the idea that health care has value to any of us in proportion to the value it has for all of us – that is, it has ‘network effects’ that we all benefit from the more people engage with it, and the more appropriately we engage with it. Sure, some of those engagements will be “inefficient”, particularly in the early going. Just like with things like the telephone.

Your insinuation that any provision of any statute is carved in stone and will almost certainly never change and exists mostly to be complained about is the stuff of the nightmares that plague our most reactionary politicians. That kind of cartoonish worldview isn’t fit for serious consideration among adults.

If we were all homo economicus, Al, we’d change our own motor oil and bone up on self-care and only go to doctors when we needed to.

Not many of us are that animal, Al, and no matter how much self-congratulatory ridicule you and Vic attempt to heap on us (not that much of anyone is actually paying you any attention), you won’t change that.

]]> By: MD as HELL https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-723039 Fri, 20 Feb 2015 13:55:17 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-723039 In reply to Scott Hodson.

You were ignoring it….

Ever hear of a little concept called “evolution”?

Think of the generations of ignorers we would not have had but for your family doctor changing the course of history and evolution…

You were ignoring it? You needed a nanny to get you moving?

]]> By: Brian https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-722786 Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:25:25 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-722786 Healthcare is always going to be a difficult area to curb spending in any economy. Low cost drugs, spends on lower cost healthcare equipment would be a start.

]]> By: Al Lewis https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-722371 Tue, 17 Feb 2015 18:52:57 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-722371 I could counter these two with personal stories going the other way, like my sister-in-law who went to the doctor because of a wellness program and ended up short a thyroid that turned out to be cancer-free, or a guy who works for my publisher who got a clean bill of health and ignored heart attack symptoms a week later because he had just been to the doctor.

However, it’s not a question of dueling anecdotes. Our proposal isn’t for you to be barred from checkups. it’s that they don’t deserve special subsidies. If you want to go, go. Just don’t go because they’re free and especially don’t go because your employer is paying you or fining you.

]]> By: Scott Hodson https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-722368 Tue, 17 Feb 2015 18:44:13 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-722368 This is an important topic that is bound to be widely discussed. On a personal level, during an annual exam three years ago my PCP saw a skin discoloration that I had been ignoring for months. Confessing that he might be overly cautious, I was referred to a dermatologist. Sure enough, it was melanoma. Fortunately it was very early stage and highly treatable. Without the annual checkup, I would have surely ignored the issue until it became much more serious. My PCPs intervention not only saved my life, it also save my insurance company tens of thousands of dollars.

]]> By: Jess https://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2015/02/13/the-high-cost-of-free-checkups/#comment-722359 Tue, 17 Feb 2015 18:17:20 +0000 https://thehealthcareblog.com/?p=79570#comment-722359 I want to start by saying that I am no expert in this field. Just a normal American citizen who is extremely happy to get my free annual check-up. I’d like to point out that there are a lot of Men talking about this, in both the article and in the comments, and It’s seems that you forget that annual check-ups are something that many women do since they are about 13 years old. To have this now available for free has allowed me to, actually go annually, get a breast exam, a PAP and discuss any other issues I want with my doctor. That PAP indicated low levels of candida, indicating that what I thought were yeast infections for about 8 years, was actually bacterial vaginosis and required a different, over the counter treatment. My PCP was also very pro-active in offering holistic treatments as well. I’ve used my “free checkup” as an opportunity to establish a relationship with my PCP so that future “free checkups” (also known as a wellness visit) are more productive and not a waste of time. For example, I found out that I don’t have to do another PAP for 5 years. without the wellness visit, and the ACA, I would have been getting unnecessary PAPs (and paying for them) every year.

]]>