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Sexualized health care

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Post by Kiskadee Sun Dec 20, 2015 7:45 pm

(Rant/discussion, no advice please)

I just got an offer from my health insurance company offering me $50 if I get a pap test. Not talking about them covering the cost of the procedure, but rather a bonus gift card. And it's probably unreasonable how angry this made me! I've never been offered cash for preventative care before. I don't do these tests for various reasons, most of which are that I'm not sexually active, and I feel like this is insanely paternalistic and creepy. Like, yes, make gynecological care and information available, but then trust women to make their own decisions and don't offer them money to let someone examine their vagina. And the whole thing just makes me even more unwilling to go to a gynecologist (although I could use $50...) since I feel like it unnecessarily sexualizes women's health care rather than promoting holistic health.

This insurance company sure as hell isn't willing to help with the costs of managing a chronic illness which I've actually been diagnosed with. Sorry that the boring parts of my body got sick, yo. And they won't cover dental exams/procedures at all.

Have any of you gotten gift card incentives for preventative care?

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Post by Enail Sun Dec 20, 2015 7:57 pm

Wh... I don't... Gift cards?! Suspect  

That sounds so bizarre and controlling and invasive, to have your insurance company contacting you to tell you what specific tests they'd like you to do, bribing you to do them!? Like, shouldn't that be between you and your doctor??
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Post by Caffeinated Sun Dec 20, 2015 8:09 pm

Wow. Weird. Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?
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Post by Wondering Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:16 pm

My insurance company contacts me all the time to tell me what tests they want me to get or to remind me I haven't filled prescriptions they think I should have (that I'm no longer on) or how I should call and talk to their nurse line to help control my condition (because they don't fucking know the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes).

But they've never offered me a gift card for any of it.

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Post by Enail Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:33 pm

That seems like way more involvement in peoples' healths than I would be comfortable with my insurance company having. Is this the norm in the US?
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Post by Wondering Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:38 pm

I don't know if it's the norm. My husband doesn't get stuff like that, so maybe it's just for people with chronic conditions.

But it's not like you can do anything about it if you don't like it.

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Post by Enail Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:50 pm

All of this is deeply weirding me out.
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Post by readertorider Sun Dec 20, 2015 10:25 pm

Yikes! I have had my bank bribe me into appointments/consultations with giftcards but a pap test... Like the fact that you need a pap test means you are very much not a child, but they are choosing to tell you what care you need anyway Sad .
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Post by OtherRoooToo Mon Dec 21, 2015 12:31 am

Kiskadee wrote: Have any of you gotten gift card incentives for preventative care?



I’d love to have one for certain things.

Thing is, a pap is emphatically not one of those things.


Kiskadee wrote:

 And the whole thing just makes me even more unwilling to go to a gynecologist (although I could use $50...) since I feel like it unnecessarily sexualizes women's health care rather than promoting holistic health.

And IMO you would be right about that.

Kiskadee wrote: This insurance company sure as hell isn't willing to help with the costs of managing a chronic illness which I've actually been diagnosed with.  Sorry that the boring parts of my body got sick, yo.  And they won't cover dental exams/procedures at all.

And that's a whole other rant, isn't it?


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Post by celette482 Mon Dec 21, 2015 8:59 am

Wait, what things have you gotten them for, OtherRoooToo? Because this is super weird and I've never ever heard of such things....

My old insurance had a website portal and would send me newsletters based on my various diagnoses (mainly migraines, plus a seasonal one about flu and upper respiratory illness). That's about it.
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Post by eselle28 Mon Dec 21, 2015 3:09 pm

My insurance company offers incentives for meeting various health goals, but not one for getting a pap exam. Mine mostly tells me that I need to go to the gym and try low carb recipes. I mostly ignore it.
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Post by OtherRoooToo Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:43 pm

celette482 wrote:Wait, what things have you gotten them for, OtherRoooToo? Because this is super weird and I've never ever heard of such things....

Oh, no, I haven't gotten them for anything yet.

I said I'd like to get them, for, say, Pilates, which I use to manage a bad old knee injury (and various other internal things), on which I generally spend a boatload every year trying to avoid surgery.

Or acupuncture, which I had to get in conjunction with a treatment plan to manage a case of endotoxemia (you don't want to know).

But I've never actually gotten one, even though I've inquired about them repeatedly (it seems like their rule is that they'll only give them out for intrusive things you don't want as opposed to things for which there's actual clinical research proof of preventative benefit).

celette482 wrote: My old insurance had a website portal and would send me newsletters based on my various diagnoses (mainly migraines, plus a seasonal one about flu and upper respiratory illness). That's about it.


That's nice.

It doesn't seem like they invest much research material into mental health, do they? "Let's remind this person she has to manage these migraines for the rest of her life!" Headsmack

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Post by Kiskadee Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:11 am

Sorry to bring this dead thing back to life, just got back around to thinking about it. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's weird. I wonder if insurance companies (in America) might be paying more attention to preventative health now that they can no longer refuse to pay for preexisting conditions?

eselle28 wrote:My insurance company offers incentives for meeting various health goals, but not one for getting a pap exam. Mine mostly tells me that I need to go to the gym and try low carb recipes. I mostly ignore it.

Just curious, are these financial incentives? I don't mean to pry, I've just never heard of this side of insurance companies before.

Also, I looked it up (cause I try to be good about preventative stuff), and the new recommendation is for all women over 21 to get them, regardless of sexual history. Science says virtually no risk of cervical cancer in virgins, gynecologists say women lie like crazy and don't know what's best, so test all of them.
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Post by prettyinpank Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:04 pm

That's so weird! I also just got a notice in the mail from my insurance about taking care of an illness I have, but I think it's...more of an explanation of what they can do to help, which is kind of nice. Except I know they took away coverage for nutrition and a few other care options recently :/

What makes this so weird is that most US insurances only cover the bare minimum for paps anyway, so if you + your doc do a pap more than once every 3 years, you will be getting a bill.

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