Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Your letters

By Times Staff Writer
Published February 18, 2007

Universal Health Care Inc., letters Feb. 11

Calls and letters unanswered

I was a member of Universal Health Care's "Any, Any, Any" plan. This plan, I was told, allowed me to go to any doctor, any time, anywhere and get reimbursed for my medical care. The only thing they didn't tell me was how much and when I would get reimbursed. I joined this plan in December 2005, effective January 2006, and was very elated to find a plan like this that offered so many benefits. I was so pleased about the services offered that I shared the plan information with my volunteer members I am the volunteer staffing chairman at the Mease Countryside Hospital and my condo complex residents (I am the condo association president).

Well, I was quickly awakened when I submitted bills to UHC and found that I had to pay my doctors because they did not except the UHC insurance and I wasn't getting reimbursed. I was very disappointed in the customer service department. I called three of four times a month and each time spoke to the same person who said she would return calls but never did. I have asked to speak to someone in the billing department to get a status of payment but instead I would get a "they are in a meeting" reply or "leave a voice mail and someone will get back to you shortly." They never did.

I have sent UHC six bills dating to the January/February 2006 time frame. They have asked me on five occasions to resend these bills, which I did via e-mail, regular mail and fax. What do they do with these bills? I got my doctors to allow me to pay the Medicare rate, not the full rate, which means I should get my full amount back.

Well, until just recently I received payments for two of the bills but did not get the full payment that Medicare would have paid. Why don't I get reimbursed the full amount? I asked UHC and have not received any reply. UHC still owes me at least $1,695 for one bill I submitted to them in February 2006. I feel waiting one year is too long for anyone to have to wait.

Gordon Wysocki, Clearwater

Still waiting for a UHC response

Responding to Universal Health Care CEO Dr. A.K. Desai's letter and your article, let me add my complaints. Dr. Desai's objective seems to be to enroll as many members as possible and obtain Medicare payments for his organization. Once enrolled, members are kept at arm's length through his organization in India. I don't believe he is even aware of the frustrations endured by myself, my husband and doctors trying to get a procedure approved or to get information.

For one month, I have been in touch, after many phone calls, to two representatives promising to send me updated formulary. I am still waiting. We are not interested in the cheapest plan but a quality plan that provides the services to which we are entitled. My husband and I are therefore changing our HMO.

Lola Orford, Largo

It feels like racketeering

I thought it was illegal for any entity in our country to restrict trade, without reasonable cause; demand payments; control profits and threaten economic life if someone didn't comply. United Health Care is but a step away from dictating which lab tests will be acceptable and which won't.

Why do we get so angry about organized crime but accept the racketeering of the "health" insurance companies?

Wendy Coughlin, Seminole

Happy to be away from Universal

I am so glad you stood by your story about Universal. I was hospitalized in the fall of 2006 and incurred bills of $11,000-plus. Universal reimbursed $352.69. Several medical professionals recommended I drop Universal Health Care coverage. I am so glad I took their advice and signed on with United Health Care effective Jan. 1.

Keep up the good work. The people need to be kept informed and deserve to know about this company.

Meme Thompson, Palm Harbor

Universal cares about customers

An article on Friday reported that Universal Health Care has temporarily postponed new enrollments to our Any, Any, Any Plan. While the article is accurate, I am concerned that the publicity over this regulatory issue will be misinterpreted.

I want to reassure our members that this postponement does not affect them. We will continue to process and pay claims from our members. We continue to enroll members in our Medicare Masterpiece plans.

Universal Health Care is committed to making a difference in the lives of senior citizens. Furthermore, as a geriatrician, I have dedicated my life to senior health care for seniors. The popularity of our plans demonstrates that we know how to meet the needs of Florida's senior population. We will continue to strive to provide them with exceptional service and ensure their health and well being.

Dr. A.K. Desai, St. Petersburg

President, CEO, Universal Health Care

Out-of-network lab? Pay $50 Feb. 12

Let patients visit convenient labs

What's next? Will insurance companies start fining physicians for making "inconvenient" diagnoses which are not in line with company policy?

As an outraged doctor, I can understand the need for a company to conserve, but to "fine" a physician for trying to make his patients' life a little easier by referring him/her to a more convenient lab or diagnostic center for the patient defies understanding. Many of our patients have a very difficult time finding a ride to a doctor's appointment and the myriad diagnostic tests which invariably result from a trip to the doctor. Now add the additional hassle of finding "the preferred lab or diagnostic center" for the insurance company and you exponentially increase the problem.

Let's address the real problem with soaring health insurance rates by addressing the true causes of this meteoric rise, our litigious society, a government decree that forbids insurance companies from negotiating with drug companies for more reasonable medicine costs and a patient population that is increasingly encountering a difficult time in accessing preventive medical treatment.

Let the insurance companies diagnose the true illness in our health care system before they prescribe a cure.

Dr. Mohan Rao, Tampa

Devil Rays deliver new pitch Feb. 14

Don't buy what the team is selling

With certainly no disrespect toward players and other hard working people associated with the team, the new pitch smells of that old phrase loosely translated: something like "putting Turtle Wax on doggy diamonds."

The new slogan "More than just a game" would seem to indicate that the Rays have no game and it certainly is not enough of one to compete. The 1.37-million figure cited as 2006 attendance should more accurately be stated as tickets sold. I cannot count the times even your paper uses the term "before an announced crowd of ______".

Team management could care less about the number that really attends the games since the tickets are sold. What does that tell you about the quality of the product on the field? How gullible are fans in this area who will continue to buy tickets to see a team who admits it has done next to nothing to improve the roster?

Wake up, baseball fans of the Tampa Bay area. You are buying an inferior product and are being charged "premium" prices to see the teams you really go to see (the visitors). I wonder how the St. Pete Times will polish the story when the Rays actually do pull up stakes and move to Orlando?

"We're not moving" will rank right up there with "weapons of mass destruction".... come, oh, 2010 or so.

Kenn Sidorewich, Oldsmar

Rename the team the Pelicans

I think owner Stuart Sternberg is making a mistake in keeping the Devil Rays name for the upcoming season. Why retain a loser image name? Start anew with a fresh, more relevant team name. What is the very logo and symbol of the city of St. Petersburg, appearing on our stationery, documents, information bulletins, Web site, local city TV programming on Ch. 35, etc.?

The answer is the pelican. I say the "ideal" name for our baseball team should be the St. Petersburg or St. Pete Pelicans. This name would be tailored to suit our team to the core. The team mascot could be renamed "Pelican Pete." As a symbol, this name signifies the very essence of St. Petersburg. Go with the progressive name change, Mr. Sternberg.

Also, the Rays want to focus on the slogan "More than just a game." That's fine. Certainly, every sun-up should be a sun-shiny day at the Trop. As a fan, with justified skepticism, I don't believe Sternberg and Co. are whitewashing reality and just soft-soaping Trop visitors. I believe they have a coherent strategy and are focused on putting a winning team on the field. To believe is to be strong. Doubt cramps energy. Belief is power. It can be done with proper player procurement coupled with top-notch inspirational coaching.

Robert B. Fleming, St. Petersburg

Overseas visitors who are over Florida Feb. 12

Inconvenience worth it to visit

I, too, am an annual visitor from the United Kingdom. I have had a home here since 1991 and, like everybody else coming into the country, have to go through immigration. I, too, have to renew my driver's license every year. The difference between myself and the two gentlemen quoted in the article is that I am quite happy to put up with the minimal disturbance to my life. I am sure if the two were asked if the sunshine and cheaper cost of living made it worthwhile they would have to agree. Mr. Strachan could drive using his U.K. license and pay a higher insurance premium, thereby negating the time-consuming visit to the driver's license bureau.

Spain, and Europe in general, are not as cheap a summer holiday as they used to be. The euro made sure of that, and at least everyone here speaks English. Mr. Strachan, were not the Americans our allies in two world wars?

Lastly, my advice to these two visitors is, that if you are not happy, invoke your democratic rights and stay home (or go elsewhere).

John Jackson, Clearwater

Power plant Feb. 11

Biofuel not as clean as it sounds

Your statement that the "system" unlike fossil fuel "plants" will add no carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere may be technically correct, but it is very misleading. When the powder produced by the "system" is burned in the combined-cycle power plant, it will produce CO2 just like the coal-burning power plant. The purpose of the stack on the combined-cycle power plant in your sketch is to carry off the exhaust gas, primarily CO2. If the powder is not burned, it produces no electricity. A coal fired plant may produce less CO2 per unit of electricity than the bio-fuel process. The net environmental impact is more complicated of course, because the grass extracts CO2 from the atmosphere as it grows, whereas the carbon in coal was extracted eons ago. However, the acreage used to produce the grass could have been growing something that was not burned, thus keeping the carbon out of the atmosphere. Anyway, your article made the biofuel process seem to be far more pristine than it actually is.

Lou Martin, St. Petersburg

Share your opinions

MAIL: Business News Letters, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.

FAX: (727) 893-8939

E-MAIL: biznews@tampabay.com (Please indicate the word "Letter" in the subject field.)

WEB: www.tampabay.com/letters (Choose the "Business" option.)

[Last modified February 16, 2007, 22:12:48]