Something isn't right. A parent of a girl that I coach in softball called the other day and wanted to make an appointment to get their children a flu shot. The nurse asked her who her insurance was with and she responded "Blue Cross". The nurse said she was sorry but they were currently out of shots. The lady thought the whole conversation sounded weird and called them right back. A different nurse answered and ask her the same question "Who is your insurance with?". This time she responded with "Medicaid" and was told that they had shots and she should bring her children in. My cousin and his wife just took their son to the clinic to receive a flu shot. They were asked who their insurance was with. They were told that, since they had insurance, they couldn't receive the shot but if they were uninsured or had medicaid they would have been allowed to. My cousins mother-in-law then called their local clinic and was told the exact same thing. WTF? The hard working, tax paying, productive people are turned away while the ones that we're taxed to support get the benefits. Has this happened to anyone else? Bull****!
This is not quite the controversy you are seeing it to be. DHH owns doses of the shot, and distributes them to providers. These doses are not available to private payers because they have already been paid for by DHH. Providers are not denying insured folks flu shots in order to give them to Medicaid folks. They are running out of their own stock and the DHH owned doses aren't being used up.
The insured can get a flu shot through their doctors office generally, sometimes even with their pharmacy. The free clinics and hospitals also have a batch reserved for medicaid patients, who have no insurance. If she was denied at her own doctors office and she is insured, she needs to contact the insurer and check on her coverage. She may just need to wait until it is available. The vaccine is coming out slowly and it will take 8-12 weeks to get it delivered to every place that needs it. Some get it before the others. LSU hasn't offered us shots yet and they do most years by now.
Maybe I'm wrong, probably not, but maybe. I feel that those who pay for insurance should never be refused. Through taxes, they paid for everything the DHH has purchased. They should pull from their stock to provide for those who pay...period.
I agree with the principle, but the particulars are more complicated. Most of the DHH owned shots are part of Kid Med and are intended for children. I'm not sure it is right to pull a shot from a kid because his parents or poor and give it to someone else because they can pay. I think we can justify denying someone who is living on government support in favor of someone who supports themself, but it gets much more grey when minor children are involved.
But insured children are being told there are no shots and being turned away while uninsured children are getting shots.
My daughters' doctor's office does not have enough shots to give to anyone who wants one. My older daughter was able to get one because she was recently hospitalized with an asthma attack, but my younger daughter couldn't get one. We're probably going to go to Walgreen's or someplace to get one. It's a pain, though, and it does irritate me a bit that uninsured folks can walk in and get theirs free, while those of us who don't mind paying cannot readily find a shot at our doctor's office.
This is a prime example of why Obamacare will end up costing me money while the "poor" will notice no change in the way they get stuff.
