How to Get the Best Possible Health Care at the Best Price
WILLIS: Health care is a hot topic these days with President Obama pushing for a massive overhaul of the system. Now, many of you have e-mailed us here at the show to express your concerns and ask questions about what these plans would mean to your bottom line. Here to break it down for us is Dr. Bernadine Healy, she's the health editor of the "U.S. News and World Report" and the former director of the National Institutes of Health. Welcome, doctor, great to see you, today.</s>DR BERNADINE HEALY, U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: Nice to see you, Gerri.</s>WILLIS: All right, so, I want to start with the dollars and cents of the plans. You know, we've heard a lot of estimates about what they might cost, a trillion dollars over 10 years. I want to know is if these plans go into effect, what will it cost me as a user of the plans? Will my costs go up or will they down?</s>HEALY: Well, Gerri, you're asking the question that every single American is asking when a tax bill is passed or cap or trade, and they say you'll have to pay an extra percent or two percent, they understand what that means. But here, it's very, very hard to give any individual that answer. You know, we have the CBO looking for the government to see how much the government is going to have to pay. But we don't have the code for what individuals will have to pay. We do know, for example, that young people are going to have to pay more.</s>WILLIS: OK, so young people will have to pay more. Will the elderly pay more? Will older people pay more?</s>HEALY: The elderly will pay more, because the -- almost a third or more than a third of the money to pay for health reform is coming out of Medicare. Now, that means indirectly, the elderly are making a huge donation to health reform, to cover everyone else. There are also more subtle things in terms of restrictions on elderly care that we really won't see play out until health reform is fully in place.</s>WILLIS: Well, I really want to talk to you about that, because there are big questions and people are really concerned if their treatment is going to be dialed back in any way. Will there be limits to what kinds of procedures or treatments or drugs you can take because of this plan?</s>HEALY: Here again, Gerri, what we have are structures in place that will make determinations of that. For example, a health benefits committee or a health choices administration. They will ultimately determine what people have to have in their insurance or what they'll have to pay out of their pocket. So, we don't know if our care is going to be dialed back and we won't know.</s>WILLIS: Well, it's certainly a massive program that we're talking about here, and there are lots of questions. Not a ton of answers. We really appreciate your coming on and telling us about some of these issues that are emerging right now. We hope you watch it --- continue to watch it for us. Dr. Healy, thanks for your time, today.</s>HEALY: Thank you, Gerri.</s>WILLIS: Everyone wants the best insurance and care when they step in their doctor's office, but sometimes, you know, that's not always the case. So, how do you know when it's time to fire your doctor? That's right. You can fire your doctor. Dr. Orly Avitzur is a neurologist and medical advisor for "Consumer Reports." Doctor, yours is an amazing story. You fired not one doctor, but two and in the space station a year, so you really know how to do this. I think that people have doctor problems, they have long wait times, they get frustrated. But when does that really rise to the level of, I've got to get this doctor out of here.</s>DR ORLY AVITZUR, CONSUMER REPORTS: Right, I think it Is unfortunate, but it's important for every patient to know they have a choice and so, if things are not going well in the office, if your doctor has a poor bedside manner or his staff is rude or you don't get telephone calls answered, or you're kept waiting a very long period of time, it's just time for you to kind of take a look at the situation and decide if you really want to stay, if it's worth staying at that practice.</s>WILLIS: But wouldn't it make more sense before you just, you know, fire your doctor, to maybe go to the office manager or someone and say, you know, look, I'm having problems, there's a -- the doctor has a rude bedside manner, I'm waiting for an hour. Would that maybe prompt some change?</s>AVITZUR: Absolutely. You should always speak to the office staff first and even try to make them your friends because you need them for all sorts of things, from scheduling appointments to dealing with insurance problems. So, have a good relationship with the office staff so that you can talk about things like this when they get a little bit sticky. And also feel free to talk to the doctor if things are so intolerable that you're actually considering leaving.</s>WILLIS: How long is too long to wait in an office? Seriously, because, you know, I hear all kinds of horror stories about people waiting an hour, two hours. How long should you be willing to wait?</s>AVITZUR: That is such an individual question. I do think it's important for doctors to be respectful of your time, but sometimes doctors get caught up in the emergency room or they get behind because of surgery and there are other unforeseen circumstances including emergencies that happen that just can't be helped and I think it's an individual question. If you love your doctor and it's just something that happens now and then because of those circumstances, then I certainly wouldn't recommend leaving.</s>WILLIS: So, you got to give me the nuts and bolts here. What do I need to do if I have decided I'm going to firing my doctor. What do I need to know? What paperwork do I take with me, are there any fees or charges?</s>AVITZUR: You need to know that it's your medical right, it's your legal right to have your records and so it's probably best, and the laws in states vary, but to request those records in writing. Sometimes, there is a copying charge, there often is not. But it's definitely something that is within your legal rights and should be transferred to your next doctor, because that doctor will need it in order to have the full information to help you take care of your health.</s>WILLIS: Dr. Orly Avitzur, thanks for your time today, we appreciate it.</s>AVITZUR: Thank you very much.</s>WILLIS: And a new survey out from Demo (ph) says the public policy think tank reveals 52 percent of respondents citing medical expenses as contributing to their credit card debt. Other findings include 37 percent are relying on credit cards to cover basic living expenses, like rent, utilities and groceries. And Hispanics have the highest average credit card levels, while African-Americans have the lowest. Look, using your credit card as a plastic safety net never works well, because the price of doing that is so high. Interests and penalty fees can easily escalate your monthly bill. A better strategy for getting money, if you're in a real bind, is break certificates of deposit or turning to your family for a loan. Now, if that's not possible, consider contacting your creditors directly and asking for help. They may well extend the period you have to pay them back or forgive fees. In this climate, any payment is better than no payment, from their point of view. It's time to start thinking about back to school. We have the list of the best college values in the country, next.